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 69

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 69

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swered. He set proper forces at work to remedy this evil, and, when a new file room was prepared in the extension of the Treasury building, some hundreds of thousands of vouchers and other papers were so arranged that any of them could be found in less than fifteen minutes, and a call for information answered promptly. The depart- ments were so pleased with this improvement that Pres- ident Lincoln declared that if it were not for the pressure upon him for office he would have requested Mr. Bigger to remain as register during his term. In 1874 Governor Hendricks appointed him one of the commissioners of the House of Refuge at Plainfield. While he acted in that capacity the annual expenses of the institution were reduced from seventy thousand to thirty thousand dollars, a fact that commends the faithfulness and ex- ecutive ability of the board, contrasting, as it does, with the official incompetence and corruption of the age. Almost ever since he fixed his home in Rushville Mr. Bigger has been, as he says, an "amateur editor." He wrote for the Jacksonian, published in that city, and at times became its editor. Some of his editorials written after the Civil War were copied throughout the Union. The most important of these was one on Sheridan's raid; another on Mrs. Surratt's murderers; and a third on Black Friday. At an early age Mr. Bigger evinced a natural taste for mathematics, and an aptness for solv- ing difficult problems that was a promise of future abil- ity, which later years have more than fulfilled. At Washington, in 1859, he submitted to the National Teachers' Association a review of Robinson's analytical solution of the prize problem in Part Third of Emer- son's Higher Arithmetic, which was referred by the association to the editor of the Mathematical Monthly (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and published that year in the December number of that periodical. As a speci- men of close, logical reasoning and terseness of style, this paper is worthy a perusal. It attests the power and capacity of the reviewer's mind, especially as he studied in youth no higher branch than arithmetic, and that without the aid of a teacher, and never received instruction in the higher mathematics. For him, with- out such previous training, to present his review before a learned and august body of college professors seemed an act of temerity; but, as already seen, it was justified by the result, for the paper was deemed a masterly one, such as but few educated mathematicians could originate. Subsequently, Mr. Bigger published a pamphlet, "re- spectfully submitted to the teachers of the United States," the title-page of which is as follows: " Five of the Most Useful and Practical Rules in Arithmetic-to wit, Simple Proportion, Compound Proportion, Simple and Compound Interest, and Percentage-unified and solved by One Simple Formula; One Formula for either, or for Any Problem in either." This formula was to be embodied and illustrated in an arithmetic he was prepar-

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ing, but for various reasons it has not been completed. By this he claims that any pupil of ordinary intellect can readily state and solve the most difficult problem, and comprehend the whole reasoning process involved in arithmetical solutions. As a lawyer Mr. Bigger stands among the first. He has a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of legal principles; and his pleadings are celebrated throughout Eastern Indiana for their terse- ness and logical conclusions. As a writer on both political and social topics he has few equals. His style is concise, and exhibits great command of the English language. His sentences are often pointed with the keenest satire, and always linked together in perfect logic. Many of his newspaper articles have been copied by East- ern journals, and attracted much attention. Those who know him personally and through his writings say his mind is one of comprehensiveness and power. He is very faithful to clients and to friends, punctual in engage- ments, and in all relations of life a true gentleman. Mr. Bigger married Nancy Wilson, of Warren County, Ohio, March 6, 1827.

OOR, WILLIAM F., M. D., vice-president of the First National Bank of New Castle, is one of the oldest and best qualified physicians in Henry County, having practiced there for a third of a century. He was the son of Nicholas and Rachel (Guisinger) Boor, both Pennsylvanians, of German de- scent, and was born in Perry County, Ohio, June 10, 1819. After obtaining a good English education, he became, in April, 1842, a student of medicine in the office of Doctors Dillon and Spencer, in Uniontown, Muskingum County, Ohio, with whom he studied three years. He then opened an office in Carlisle, Monroe County, but, dissatisfied with the location, he removed in August, 1846, to Middletown, Henry County, Indiana, where he soon obtained a large and lucrative practice. Now fully established in the profession, he returned to Muskingum County, and was there married, April 15, 1847, to Miss Catharine E. Axline. But the tie was bro- ken by her death, in March, 1852. In the following Octo- ber, bent upon attaining greater proficiency, he entered the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in March, 1853. Returning to Mid- dletown, he continued to practice there until 1858, when he removed to New Castle, where he has ever since been actively employed in his profession. Doctor Boor does not act in servile dependence upon the opinions of med- ical teachers, but relies very much upon the results of his own investigations. Having noticed in the treatment of enteric fever a very frequent and serious complication occurring about the end of the second week, ushered in with a chill, and speedily followed by pain in the groin and down the leg, he brought his observations to the

notice of the Henry County Medical Society, in an es- say on "Femoral Phlebitis," in which he argued its pathological identity with phlegmasia alba dolens. He is a member of the Henry County Medical Society, and on several occasions has been elected its president. The Indiana State Medical Society also numbers him among its members. March II, 1869, he was appointed physi- cian to the Henry County Asylum, and on April 2 of the following year he received the appointment of United States examining surgeon for pensions, both of which offices he still holds. In April, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Morton surgeon of the 19th In- diana Volunteers, but declined to serve; yet, on Septem- ber 4 of the same year, he accepted the surgeoncy of the 4th Indiana Cavalry, and served with that regiment un- til June, 1863, when he was appointed brigade surgeon of the First Brigade, Second Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Cumberland. Unfortunately for the med- ical interests of that department, he was obliged to resign his post November, 1863, because of the protracted ill- ness of his wife. To this lady, his second consort, whose maiden name was Miss S. A. R. Roof, of Henry County, he was married April 1, 1857. He is the father of four children-two sons by the first wife, the younger dying in infancy. The older son, Walter A. Boor, M. D., is a graduate of the Medical Department of the Michigan University, and of Bellevue Hospital College, New York. He is in partnership with his father, and bids fair to become an able practitioner. By the second wife he had a daughter and a son. The daughter, Minnie L. Boor, nearing her twenty-second birthday, was very sud- denly and unexpectedly called hence in the early morn of the New-year, 1880. She was possessed of an amia- bleness of heart and gentleness of spirit rarely found, endearing herself to all. An active and devoted mem- ber of the Christian Church, she was ever found at her place in all the meetings. A graduate of the New Castle schools, under Professor G. W. Hufford, and two years at Antioch College, Ohio, she attained a high de- gree of intellectual culture. Thoughtful for humanity, she was diligent in the benevolent societies, and earnest in the temperance work and moral reforms of the day. The son is a student of medicine in his father's office. The Doctor's political attachments, though strong, are ever held in subservience to his sense of right, as seen in the fact that, although once a devoted Democrat, he left the party when it broke the nation's compact and outraged the rights of man by repealing the Missouri Compromise. Since that event he has been a Republi- can. He has long been identified with the cause of ed- ucation, having been school trustee about twelve years. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd-fel- lows, has passed all the chairs, and been several times a representative to the Grand Lodge. He is a member of the Christian Church, holding positions of responsibility

Braden

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and trust. Doctor Boor, while eminently successful in | beginning of the Rebellion, when, as he believed, the his profession, has gained, also, an enviable position in business circles, having been for some years a director of the First National Bank, of which, as previously mentioned, he is now vice-president.

Democratic party was inimical to the Union, he joined the Republicans, voting for Mr. Lincoln in 1864. The present generation owes a lasting debt of gratitude to such men, for the ease and plenty it now enjoys is largely the result of their hardships and privation. Though de- nied the advantages of school, his active, capable mind has proved equal to every undertaking. Quick to fore- see, wise to plan, and possessing the rugged strength, mental and physical, to execute, he has wrought a com- petence out of the wilderness, and, through the sterling virtues of his character, made his name respected wher- ever known. Mr. Blount was married, October 18, 1835, to Miss Nancy, daughter of Jonathan and Caturia Bid- well, of Henry County. He has had eleven children, six surviving : Melinda, wife of Burtiss Birds, a farmer; Andrew, also engaged in farming; Jonathan B .; John W .; Emma, the youngest, who remains at home; and T. J., a young and promising lawyer of Muncie.

LOUNT, WARREN, Blountsville, Henry County, a prominent and successful farmer, and an early pioneer, of that region, was born in Wayne County, February 17, 1817. He is the eldest of eleven children of Andrew R. and Sarah (Warren) Blount. The father was a native of Lawrenceburg, Pennsylvania. He carried on farming in Wayne County until 1822; then removed to Henry County, laying out the village of Blountsville, where he resided until 1836; then remov- ing to Blackford County. In 1865 he returned to Blounts- ville, remaining there until his death, at the age of sev- enty-three. A good farmer, an energetic, upright man, he died lamented by many warm friends. His father emigrated from Wales to Maryland, but afterwards going to Pennsylvania, and finally to Delaware County, Indiana, RADEN, DANIEL C., of Randolph County, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, December 6, 1842. He is the eighth of the twelve children of John and Margaret (Leeper) Braden, who were married in 1825. His father is an old-fashioned farmer who yet lives near Washington, Ohio, and reared his sons as tillers of the soil. At the age of eleven years Mr Bra- den suffered an attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which, owing to the malpractice of the attending phy- sician, was followed by anchylosis of the right knee, and he became a cripple for life. He attended the winter schools of the district, and when fifteen years of age succeeded in attending, during three terms of three months each, the old Miller Academy, at Washington, Ohio. By perseverance and diligence he prepared him- self to become a teacher in the public schools, which profession he followed successfully for years, having taught eighty-seven and a half months in the states of Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. In 1865 he settled in Ridgeville, Indiana, and was principal teacher of the schools in that place until the spring of 1870. At this time he was appointed deputy United States marshal under General Benjamin Spooner. He afterward en- gaged in the mercantile business, which he carried on successfully until 1875, when he was elected, on the Re- publican ticket, recorder of Randolph County. This position he now holds, with credit to himself and with satisfaction to the county. His early political associa- tions were with the old Free-soil or Abolition party; and the lessons of those trying times, impressed upon his mind as they were by the sufferings of the helpless fugitives, to many of whom his father gave aid and where he died. Mr. Blount's mother was born in North Carolina, of Irish ancestry, and came with her parents first to Ohio, then to Indiana. Warren Blount had in early life a very limited education. On attaining his majority, his father gave him fifty dollars; and with this, and an equal sum he had earned, he pre-empted eighty acres of wild land, and immediately began clear- ing it. Under steady assaults of ax, fire, and plow, the thick woods slowly gave place to fertile fields, and by successive purchases the farm was enlarged to five hun- dred and fifty-six acres. His first house was of logs, with puncheon floor and stick and clay chimney, all made by his own hands. After living in that about three years, he built, in 1842, a dwelling of hewn logs, in those days considered a very good house. His pres- ent spacious residence was erected in 1854. By gifts to his children, the farm has been reduced to four hundred and thirty-six acres, all under cultivation. Mr. Blount pays special attention to the raising of stock and grain. His out-buildings are large and well-built, and every thing indicates industry and enterprise. While making his farm one of the best in the state, he has helped to build turnpikes where in his younger days were only foot-paths or the poorest of roads. He was directly con- cerned in the construction of the Blountsville and Mel- ville Pike, and the Blountsville Extension Pike, running from the Delaware County line into Randolph and Henry Counties, and was one of the directors. He contributed liberally toward the erection of the Methodist Episcopal church in Blountsville, of which he has been a member since 1860. Mr. Blount was formerly a Whig, but after Harrison's administration became a Democrat. At the | shelter, with the abuse of the old Free-soilers at the

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hands of the pro-slavery party, will never be forgotten by him. He is now a strong Republican in politics. In 1867 Mr. Braden married Miss Annie E. Young ; they have an interesting family of three children. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity in good standing. His religious faith is that of a Missionary Baptist. Pos- sessing an active mind, and having been trained to habits of industry, he is almost constantly conducting some enterprise; in addition to his official duties he now superintends a fine farm near Ridgeville, in which town his family residence stands. His success is entirely due to his own exertions, and his life illustrates the truth of the noble sentiment, "It is the mind that makes the man."

OYCE, JAMES, manufacturer, of Muncie, was born in Belfast, Ireland, April 7, 1833. His par- ents, Hugh and Margaret (Wilson) Boyce, were also born in that city, and he was their only son. He is not wholly of Celtic origin, however, his lineage on the paternal side being directly traceable to the Normans. His grandfather, Alexander Boyce, was a farmer, and brother of John Boyce, a noted man in Ire- land. They formerly possessed great wealth, consisting chiefly of large estates, but through misfortunes and other causes they eventually became profligate. James Boyce attended one of the national schools in his native village, and became very proficient in the studies there pursued. After leaving school, at the age of twelve, he worked as an apprentice in a linen factory four years, his wages ranging from eight to nine cents per day, without board. At this time, October 8, 1848, he suf- fered an irreparable loss in the death of his mother- doubly grievous, since, his father being a drunkard, he felt that he was left an orphan. He was then induced to go to France by a gentleman who was looking for young men to work in his linen factory, near Havre de Grace, at a place called St. Germains. In this he labored two years, then returned to Ireland, and remained there the same length of time, after which he again went to France, and in Lille de Flanders worked at the same business. At the close of one year, finding himself out of employment, he walked from that place to St. Ger- mains, a distance of three hundred miles. There he was gladly welcomed by his old employer, who gave him a place in his mill. At length, in 1854, at the age of twenty-one, he obeyed the strong impulse that im- pels the European westward, and shipped as an ordinary seaman for New York, arriving there after a tedious voyage of nine weeks. His first work was driving a team on a canal; then he secured employment in a flax- mill at Little Falls, Herkimer County, New York. In that situation he gained by skill and faithfulness the confidence and esteem of his employer, who, after one

[ year, sent him, because of his thorough knowledge of his business, to take charge of a similar mill at Cuy- ahoga Falls, Ohio. There Mr. Boyce became acquainted with Miss Eliza McKenett, a lady of Scotch-Irish de- scent, whom he married, April- 5, 1857. Soon after his marriage he engaged in business for himself in a small mill about ten miles from Cuyahoga Falls; but in a few weeks the dam was washed away, and, not having suf- ficient means to rebuild it, he moved to Newton Falls, in the same state, and thence the next year to Scott County, Minnesota. Leaving his wife and child there for a time, he went to Greenville, Mississippi, and worked at ditching, clearing thereby three hundred and five dollars. He then returned to Minnesota, bought eighty acres of land, and began at once to convert it into a farm. In 1861 he raised the first acre of flax ever seen in that state, buying the seed at the drug- stores for five dollars per bushel. In the winter of 1863, Mr. Boyce started a scutching mill, cutting the logs for the horse-power from his own woods; but when he had worked up three years' accumulation of flax, it caught fire, and all the property, including the buildings, was burned. He had nothing left but his farm, and to this he again turned for subsistence. But his misfortunes were only begun. The next spring, typhoid fever entered his family, and took his wife and one child, leaving him with two children to commence the world anew. Mr. Boyce then sold what little property he had at auction, and, leaving his notes with his father-in-law, went back to Ohio. His father-in-law soon died, and he was never able to collect any thing on the notes. At Alliance, Ohio, he contracted for one-third of a flax-mill, and after three months bought out his two partners and re- mained alone one year. He then sold the mill and went to Wooster, Ohio, having made two thousand dollars by the transaction. In that town he engaged in the same business with J. C. Kurtz, under the firm name of Kurtz & Boyce. But two years had passed when a second time .his property was burned. After four years, he sold his interest to his partner, and re- moved to Muncie, Indiana, July 4, 1870, the possessor of ten thousand dollars. Mr. Boyce at first erected a small wooden building, and carried on the tow business for three years. Then, failing to find a market for this product, he commenced the manufacture of bagging, and of flax-breaking and tow machinery, with a capac- ity of two looms, which he afterward increased to five. On the 4th of November, 1876, the fire fiend again visited destruction upon him, by which he lost about ten thousand dollars above the insurance. He then re- built, with a capacity of seven looms, using the best and latest improvements that could be obtained in the world, importing many from England. The establish- ment now manufactures the best of flax-tow machinery, and has a capacity of eleven looms, with an annual pro-

JAS BOYCE

Western Bi. al Pub Co

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duct of about one and a half million yards of bagging, and a large quantity of straight flax for twines, etc., by which six or seven thousand tons of flax straw are used yearly. Mr. Boyce has found time, notwithstanding busi- ness cares, to discharge official duties. He has been a member of the city council in Muncie for four years, and in Minnesota was chairman of the board of county commissioners, and also county clerk of Scott County. He has taken all the degrees in Odd-fellowship, and all in the Masonic Fraternity up to that of Knights Tem- plar. He was Scribe, and also High-priest of the En- campment, and Noble Grand of the subordinate lodge. In religion he is a Universalist; in politics, a stanch Republican, but devotes little time to political mat- ters. The first wife of Mr. Boyce died June 1, 1865. He was married on January 7, 1866, to Mrs. Eliza Shaffer, who died April 18, 1875, leaving him with a family of seven small children. He married, July 10, 1875, Miss Margaret Mohler, of Muncie, by whom he has two children. Of his eleven children, nine sur- vive-five sons and four daughters. The young man who is easily discouraged should read this sketch and note the example of Mr. Boyce. We seldom see such persever- ance through difficulties, such buoyancy of spirit under heavy afflictions, and such fertility of resource in re- pairing losses. All advantages seem to have been with- held, and disaster after disaster poured upon him, until he has overcome only, as it were, by wresting success from the very grasp of fate. Through life his motto has been, "Great hope, no fear," and well he has ob- served it. His manufactory is of brick, well built and spacious, and the business he is doing in Muncie is of great benefit to the farmers of Delaware County, for it renders their flax straw, which was formerly worthless, a most valuable product. He has attained the high- est success in the flax business, and has brought it to its present perfect state, having invented all the ma- chinery which he uses in breaking up the raw mate- rial. The force of his character is manifest in the fact that, while he manages his private business affairs with such ability, he yet has sufficient mental power to act with effect in other situations. Being so useful and worthy a man, it is to be hoped he will long remain a citizen of Indiana, and that his hitherto changeful and troubled life will continue, as it now is, fixed and peaceful.

ROTHERTON, WILLIAM, lawyer, of Muncie, was born near Winchester, Virginia, October 3, 1826. His father, John Brotherton, was a native of Yorkshire, England, and, after coming to America, engaged in farming. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary P. Hodge, was born in Vir- ginia. They removed in 1835 to Greene County, Ohio,

when their son William was nine years of age. What were the circumstances of his early life, whether the family led the barren, utilitarian existence almost nec- essary to the farmers of those times, or whether the home influences were of a more genial, refining nature, is unknown; but the latter may be inferred, as his early education was largely obtained by earnest study at home, although good use was also made of the meager advantages afforded by a country school. While Mr. Brotherton was a mere youth, the bent of his mind was revealed and his career foreshadowed in the fact that he seized every opportunity to visit a court-room during the progress of a trial, and there observed with deep interest all the proceedings. At length, in 1849, he gratified his long-cherished desire to study law, by be- coming a student in the office of Judge Moses Barlow, of Xenia, Ohio. Here he applied himself to the studies assigned with great diligence and ready comprehension ; and in 1851, after a rigid examination, was admitted to the bar. Selecting Muncie, Indiana, as the field of his future efforts, Mr. Brotherton at once removed thither, and commenced the practice of law. With limited pe- cuniary means, without influence, and an entire stranger in the place, he entered upon the long, toilsome way of the aspirant for legal distinction. By laborious study, close attention to business, and a special aptitude for certain branches of the profession, he gradually gained a lucrative practice. He also interested himself in pol- itics, where his abilities soon obtained general recogni- tion. In 1852, only one year after his arrival in Muncie, he was elected district attorney of the Common Pleas Court for the counties of Delaware, Grant, and Black- ford. In this office he served two years, and in 1855 was elected prosecuting attorney of the Seventh Judi- cial Circuit. The Republican party, of which he is a member, had just begun the struggle for supremacy ; and on that ticket, in 1858, Mr. Brotherton was elected to a seat in the Legislature as Representative from Del- aware County. The nomination was entirely unsought, and was accepted only at the urgent solicitation of friends. At the close of the term, in accordance with a resolution expressed at his election, he resumed the duties of his profession, and never afterward permitted himself to be made a candidate for any political office. In 1853 he married Miss Martha Richardson, of Centerville, Indiana. They have three children. Mr. Brotherton's great independence of spirit, of which his life has been a constant illustration, is shown particularly in the fact that when he was prosecuting attorney, and his duties re- quired him to travel over the county, he refused the gift of a horse, proffered by his parents. He is a man of liberal religious opinions, and broad views upon all im- portant topics; of a generous, sympathetic, and retiring disposition, which necessitated obtaining the above data from others; and very humorous. The latter is a salient

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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 69

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