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 71

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 71

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UTLER, ELI H., superintendent of Winchester public schools, was born in Hancock County, In- diana, August 12, 1841. He is the son of George W. and Martha (Rawls) Butler. His early edu- cational advantages were limited to those afforded at the common and district schools of his neighborhood, and later he entered the academical department. But,

having a natural gift for teaching and an ambition to excel, he soon entered that profession, and step by step advanced in knowledge and efficiency until, in 1865, he became superintendent of public schools. This relation he has sustained through twelve successive years, with credit to himself and with satisfaction to the communi- ties in which he has labored. During this period he had charge of the schools in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, five years, those of Attica two years, and now occupies that position for his third year in the Winchester schools. He has also been one of the principal man- agers and teachers in the Randolph County Normal In- stitute; this institute is especially designed for training teachers for their work, and has been highly successful, having had an attendance of more than eighty students during one session. Mr. Butler was brought up a mem- ber of the society of Friends, but left that denomina- tion, and in 1863 united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is now an acceptable member. He married Matilda M. Sample, August 17, 1861; she died November 3, 1863, leaving one child, a son. August 19, 1869, Mr. Butler married Susanna A. Daven- port, who died March 8, 1876; but one of her three children survives. Mr. Butler is an earnest and efficient worker in the cause of education; and, being still a young man, has undoubtedly many years of usefulness yet before him.

ULLA, JOSEPH M., president of the Richmond Horticultural Society, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, December 11, 1811, and is the son of Thomas and Susanna (Mora) Bulla. His father settled in 1806 in what was then Dearborn (now Wayne) County, and became a successful farmer and stock- raiser. Like all children of the early pioneers, Joseph Bulla had few school privileges, and those were of a very primitive kind; but, like a tree in barren soil, his mind instinctively found and appropriated the nourish- ment that it required. He was very fond of history, and read night after night by the light of the fire. He also studied the common English branches, thus qual- ifying himself to teach school, which he did successfully, until, impelled by a desire cherished from boyhood, he turned his attention to the science of medicine. During the years 1832 and 1833, he devoted himself to medical studies, but he either did not wish to practice that profession, or the farm offered greater inducements, for he soon applied himself closely to agriculture, which, with stock-raising and horticulture, has been the busi- ness of his life. He has acquainted himself with fruit- . growing both practically and scientifically. In 1876 Mr. Bulla was elected president of the Richmond Hor- ticultural Society, and the same year vice-president of I the State Horticultural Society. In 1842 he was elected

yours Toast truly. CM.Clancy.

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county commissioner of Wayne County, and was re- elected in 1845, thus serving six years. In 1850 he was chosen to represent Wayne County in the Legislature, and was returned to that body the following year, the term being then but one annual session. While in that body he served both terms on the Committee on Elec- tions, besides other committees, and was the author of several bills that passed both houses. When the Civil War broke out, imperiling the government, he desired to "join the ranks of war," but, being fifty years of age, could only remain at home and help to furnish men and means. Mr. Bulla has ever manifested a deep interest in the various 'temperance reforms, from the earliest to the present Murphy movement. In 1844 he was the first man in Boston Township to join the Wash- ingtonian Society. The same year he became a mem- ber of the Sons of Temperance, and filled all the chief offices in that order. In 1853 he united with the Free and Accepted Masons, and has taken the Blue Lodge and Chapter degrees, and occupied the principal chairs in the lodge. For the last ten years he has been a prominent member of the Universalist Church. In pol- itics, he was formerly a Whig, and became a Republi- can on the organization of that party. Some years ago he was very much engaged in political affairs, and even now is somewhat active in that field. April 17, 1834, Mr. Bulla married Miss Nancy Wilson, of Franklin County, by whom he has eleven children. All but two of these have married and settled near him, and several have become successful teachers. Those who have long known Mr. Bulla pronounce him one of the best men in the county. He is industrious, upright, public-spir- ited, and well-informed on the topics of the day. In the Legislature he exerted a marked influence, and his efforts before the Horticultural Society have proved him possessed of literary talent. Among these the following are deserving of special notice : First, an essay on " Ag- riculture and its Influence," delivered in February, 1866, and published in the agricultural papers in this state and Ohio; second, a paper entitled " What Destroyed Prehistoric America," a very able production, upon which he spent much thought and research; and, thirdly, his last annual address, which was of a scien- tific character, and was published with the Proceedings of the State Horticultural Society. He has gained a competence by wise management and steady application to one pursuit ; and without the aid of school or college has acquired a large fund of knowledge, and qualified himself to discharge the duties of various offices with ability. He would doubtless have succeeded as a teacher, a physician, or a politician; but he is to be congratulated that he belongs to that very useful class, the farmer legislators, who both create the material wealth of the country and make its laws, and thus, with mind and money, Atlas-like, bear up the nation.

CHENEY, JOHN J., ex-Judge of the Court, Win- chester, was born in Franklin County, Massachu- setts, December 5, 1827, and is the son of David and Sallie (Johnson) Cheney. Of seven children born to them, six of whom are yet living, the subject of this sketch was the eldest. His aptness for learning was such that, notwithstanding he studied mostly alone, and frequently with no one to recite to, he took a college course in Latin and a course in mathematics nearly equal to that taken by students in Yale College at that time. His father removed to Greene County, Ohio, and John continued to work on the farm until about twenty- three years of age, when he began the study of law with Judge Barlow, of Xenia. He pursued the law studies until 1852, when he removed to Winchester, Indiana, and began practice with Judge Colgrove. At the expi- ration of eighteen months he formed a partnership with General Thomas M. Browne, which continued until the latter entered the army, during the late Rebellion. With the beginning of 1864 he entered into partnership with Enos L. Watson, which continued until his election as Judge of the Common Pleas Court, in 1872. Judge Cheney has not asked for office, nor has he the slightest political ambition ; yet such has been the confidence of the people in his integrity and ability that positions of trust and honor have been thrust upon him. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney for one term. In 1865 he was appointed United States district assessor by President Johnson, through the influence of George W. Julian, member of Congress from his district at that time. Being strongly opposed to the policy of the ad- ministration, and outspoken on that point, he was re- moved by the President. He was elected to the Legis- lature in 1872, and the year following received the appointment of Circuit Judge from Governor Hendricks, though opposed to that gentleman in politics. At the close of his term of office, contrary to public wish, he declined a re-election. Judge Cheney is not a Church member. In politics he is a Republican. He was mar- ried, November 16, 1854, to Mary A. Steele, of Win- chester. Four children, two of whom are still living, have blessed this union. Mrs. Cheney having been an invalid for several years, the entire family spent the summer of 1877 in Minnesota.

LANCY, ALBERT WORTHINGTON, school su- perintendent of Delaware County, Indiana, was born at Lagrange, Jefferson County, Ohio, on the 27th of January, 1848. His father, William Clancy, from whom the son inherited a considerable amount of his characteristic energy and perseverance, was of that Scotch-Irish descent that gives to our country some of its best and most enterprising citizens, while his mother,

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Parmelia (Bartholomew) Clancy, was of German extrac- tion. When Albert was about three and a half years old he had the misfortune to meet with a severe acci- dent in a corn-shelling machine, the result of which was the loss of his left hand, the arm being amputated about three inches below the elbow. Four sons and one daughter were born to his parents, and all lived happily together until a virulent attack of typhoid fever carried off both parents within three weeks, leav- ing the five orphans. Albert, who was five years old, was taken to the home of his father's brother, where he was well taken care of until he was eight years of age, when his aunt died, and his second home was broken up. At twelve, having a fair common school education for a lad of those years, he was sent to a graded school in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. From here he went to live with a good farmer, in whose employment he spent four years, working for board and clothes and four months' instruction in each year. At the end of this time he was employed by another farmer, and by unwearied industry and close economy succeeded in laying by sufficient money to again attend school, and in this manner prepared himself as a teacher. He ob- tained his first certificate at London, Ohio, when he was seventeen years old, and taught in that state for two terms, and afterwards started on a trip westward, stopping on the way at Muncie, Indiana. This was in 1866. While visiting some old friends near Dale- ville, in the same county (Delaware), he was solicited to take charge of a school there. He consented, and secured his first certificate in Indiana of Mr. F. E. Put- nam, who is still a resident of Muncie. He taught for three months, when again he went West, intending to visit a sister who lived in Illinois. Again misfortune attended him. While en route on the Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railway, he was thrown under the cars, and the shoulder of the same arm that had been in- jured fifteen years before was crushed and mangled in a horrible manner. This terrible accident necessi- tated an amputation at the shoulder joint, on the 20th of February, 1867. Neither disheartened nor discouraged by his many misfortunes, he now for the first time concluded to lead a professional life. When he recovered from the long and wasting illness following upon the amputation, he gave instruction for a short time at Daleville, Indiana, and then at- tended the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. · Again we find him teaching at Daleville, where his ex- cellent work as a teacher and leader soon became ap- parent. He was the first in that village to put his work in a graded form, and he left an honorable record there as a modest, Christian gentleman, a good citizen, and a sincere, hard-working teacher. On account of domestic troubles he left his Daleville school and visited his sister at Lewis, Iowa, where he was offered and took charge

of Lewis Academy, with three assistant teachers. This position he kept for four terms, and in the fall of 1873 he returned to Daleville, and for another year had charge of the school there. He was then called to Muncie, to act as principal of the Washington School Building, which position he filled with success, and to the satisfaction of the citizens generally, until elected county superintendent. In February, 1879, Mr. Clancy was chosen for the unexpired term, to fill the vacancy which then occurred in the office of county superin- tendent, and in June of the same year was re-elected for another term. This office Mr. Clancy holds at the present time. Thus hurriedly have we glanced through the career of this remarkable man, a successful teacher, and a prominent, progressive educator. By his own efforts he has carved out his future, and though sur- rounded by discouragements and bearing upon his shoulders misfortunes that would have crushed many a stronger man physically, he yet trudged steadily on- ward, doing his duty and fearing naught, shirking noth- ing in the way of work or labor, and ever walking uprightly. His persistence and energy are character- istic of the man. He commences nothing that he does not finish. He has engrafted many improvements on the school system of Delaware County that cause them to be recognized as among the best in the state. Mr. Clancy is about six feet in height, and has rather a striking appearance. We venture to say that his repu- tation as an educator and as a man is unexcelled by that of any one in the county. He is always interested in every thing that pertains to the public concern or ben- efit, and is considered one of the most enterprising, public-spirited citizens of Muncie. Such men are nec- essary to build up a state.

LARK, GEORGE C., lawyer, ex-president of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and president of the Rushville National Bank, was born in North Caro- lina, November 5, 1821. The place of his na- tivity suggests the contrasts that time presents; for, from having been part of the battle-field of Guilford Court House, North Carolina, where had been carnage and death, it had become a scene of quiet and pros- perity. His father was Hezekiah S. Clark, whose an- cestors removed from England to Ireland, from Ireland to Pennsylvania, and thence to Virginia. There his parents, Daniel Clark and Mary Sanders, were married, and from that state they removed to Randolph County, North Carolina. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Abigail G. Mendenhall. Her progenitors emigrated from the manor of Mildenhall, in Wiltshire, England (the family name being then Mildenhall, sometimes contracted to Millhall), about the time

George C. Clark

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William Penn first visited America, and located in ! Chester County, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Judith Gardner, was of Welsh descent, and was born and reared on Nantucket Island. The Mendenhall and San- ders families both were very long lived. While he was yet a child Mr. Clark's parents removed from Guilford to Randolph County, North Carolina, some ten miles north-east of the county seat, Ashboro, where his father, who was a tanner, carried on a tan-yard, and engaged, also, though less directly, in making pottery, shoes, and harness, and in blacksmithing. George Clark helped in the lighter work of the tannery until the spring of 1835, when the building and contents, in- cluding books, were burned. The losses thus incurred, added to liabilities his father had to pay as surety, left him with only enough to move comfortably to Rush County, Indiana, where he had previously bought eighty acres of land, mostly in green timber, seven miles west of Rushville. Mr. Clark was blessed with an educated mother, who, like her husband, was liberal in promot- ing the education of her family. She taught every one of them to read before leaving the parental roof to at- tend school, and her son George had learned to read at the age of four. In North Carolina he attended a subscription school about nine months; in Indiana he became a pupil, during a winter term, at a school in Carthage, and spent a second winter at another school in Walnut Ridge, supporting himself at both places by doing chores. Both of these schools were in Rush County, and in charge of the society of Friends. But Mr. Clark's advantages had not been limited to the meager ones afforded in these schools, for in his native state, under the instruction of an elder brother, he had learned Latin so far as to read " Viri Romæ." His progress was then interrupted by the departure of the family for Indiana, where other more pressing necessi- ties left little time for study; yet, while clearing up green beech forests, the nights and rainy days were em- ployed in continued striving after knowledge. When the family left North Carolina his maternal uncle, George C. Mendenhall, a wealthy slave-holder and prominent lawyer of Guilford County, exacted a promise from Mr. and Mrs. Clark to allow their son George to return to his home when eighteen years of age. The father was extremely desirous to fulfill this promise, but his necessities prevented, until at last an opportunity was presented for him to ride back to North Carolina with relatives who had driven through to Indiana in a private carriage. They had been directed by the uncle above named to bring George back with them. He went, and soon after his arrival his uncle sent him for one year to the Friends' boarding school, at New Garden, near Greensboro. His predilections up to this time were for the profession of medicine, and he had read with care "Bell's Anatomy," "Gibson's Surgery," and

other medical works. He was now a good Latin scholar and had some knowledge of Greek; and, encouraged by an offer of his uncle, he commenced the study of the law under his instruction. After two years of close reading he passed a long and severe examination, by three judges of the Supreme Court, without missing a question, and was duly licensed to practice in the county courts. This was in June, 1843, and after he had studied another year he was admitted to practice in all the courts of the state. On the 30th of that month, with horse and saddle-bags, given him by his uncle, and one hun- dred dollars, Mr. Clark set out for Indiana. Going through Kentucky he called on Henry Clay, then a candidate for the presidency. On reaching home he remained there until the 13th of the following October, when he located in Rushville to practice law. Having no money nor influential friends, business came slowly. A bar consisting of such men as Rariden, Newman, Parker, Test, O. HI. Smith, C. B. Smith, Perry, Hackle- man, Tingley, Cox, Finley, Bigger, etc., left little room for a tyro, and he was compelled to engage temporarily in other pursuits. He acted as clerk in a store ; taught school two years near Monrovia, Morgan County; was telegraph operator in the first office in Rushville, and became township clerk. Finally, in March, 1851, he settled down to the practice of law, but the fates seemed unpropitious until 1854, when his success really began. In the fall of that year he was elected on the Whig ticket to the Lower House of the Legislature, and served one term, which wholly satisfied his political ambition. In March, 1856, Mr. Clark entered into partnership with Pleasant A. IIackleman, a prominent attorney and politician, and afterward a brigadier-gen- eral. In this relation he toiled hard, chiefly in the preparation of papers, and the firm became one of the ablest in Eastern Indiana. In 1861 it was dissolved, Mr. Hackleman entering the army. The wranglings of pettifoggers in Justices' Courts were always distasteful to Mr. Clark; and he had now gained experience and rep- utation that enabled him to dispense with such practice. He had given much attention to that branch of the law which has to do with the titles of land and the rights of heirs, and he came to be regarded as a safe counselor. In 1864 he was elected president of the Rushville branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and held that office by successive re-elections until the bank closed, in April, 1375. In October, 1871, he was elected president of the Bank of the State of Indiana, which position he held until the closing of the bank, as above indicated. In 1865 he was chosen president of the Rushville National Bank, and still acts in that capacity. In all these respon- sible positions he performed his duties to the entire sat- isfaction of directors and stockholders. In October, 1872, the Governor appointed him a director of the Southern State-prison of Indiana, to fill a vacancy until

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the meeting of the General Assembly. Mr. Clark was formerly a Whig, and is now a pronounced Republican; and, though not a politician in the sense of being an office-seeker, he has always held positive views of public policy, maintaining them manfully in debate. In 1846, at Rushville, he joined the Independent Order of Odd- fellows, and is now Past Grand. Mr. Clark's ancestors, on both sides, were mostly of the society of Friends, and he has a birthright membership, which he has never broken. Personally, he is of good figure, rather above the average size, and his bearing is dignified and impressive. Naturally thoughtful, he early evinced a preference for the intimate acquaintance of men advanced in years; and among the lessons of wisdom derived from these associations he acquired that precision of language and steadiness of deportment that have long character- ized him. He believes that the legal profession is, or should be, the most exalted of all pursuits, and there- fore holds in just contempt that class denominated "shysters." He is profoundly versed in law, especially in the branch to which we have referred, and is one of the most reliable of counselors. It may seem at first glance paradoxical that a man who delights in the investigation of abstruse legal subjects should find equal pleasure in the cultivation of flowers; yet to this he de- votes much attention. It affords him needed recreation ; and he has displayed much care and taste in ornamenting his grounds. He not only excels in horticulture, but is a skillful botanist. Mr. Clark has a large fund of informa- tion, and the happy faculty of making it readily available. Naturally, and from long habit, he is so careful that he seldom makes a mistake or engages in a hazardous enterprise. He shrinks instinctively from the throng of men; but with chosen friends he is very companionable. His professional abilities and extensive reading, his per- fect honesty and pure morals, and his many quiet acts of charity, have rendered him one of the most useful and respected citizens of the state.

LAYPOOL, BENJAMIN F., of Connersville, In- diana, was born in Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana, December 12, 1825, and resided there until April, 1836, when, with his father, he re- moved to a farm one mile north of Connersville, where he resided and worked until the fall of 1843. His father, Newton Claypool, was one of the early settlers of Indiana; born in Virginia, he emigrated to Ross County, Ohio, in his youth, and thence to Connersville. Ile was a man of liberal education and strong common sense, and was frequently honored by his constituents with a seat in the Senate and House of Representatives in Indiana. The subject of this sketch was a pupil from 1834 to 1843 of Harvey Nutting, under whose |

tuition he acquired a knowledge of the various branches usually taught in our seminaries, together with the French and Latin languages. He showed great fond- ness for Latin, and while under the instruction of his old preceptor, Nutting (still living), read most of the standard authors. In the fall of 1843 he entered As- bury University, at Greencastle, Indiana, where he re- mained until the summer of 1845, finishing the classical and belles-lettres course. Soon after leaving college he went into the law office of the late Hon. O. H. Smith, of Indianapolis, and began the study of the law. In March, 1847, he was admitted to practice. Soon after his admission he opened an office in Connersville, the place of his birth, and engaged in the active duties of his profession, in competition with a bar at that time containing some of the most brilliant lawyers of the state. By study, industry, and close attention to busi- ness, he soon took rank among the foremost, both as a civil and criminal lawyer. He has been engaged in most of the important cases in the section of coun- try surrounding him. In politics he was a Whig, but when that party went down he became a Republican, and so continues. He was in 1856 a delegate to the Philadelphia convention that nominated John C. Fre- mont ; in 1864 a presidential elector in the Fifth Con- gressional District; and in 1868 one of the electors for the state at large, canvassing his district and state in the interests of the Republican party. In 1860 he was elected Senator from the counties of Fayette and Union, and served as such during the exciting times of the Re- bellion ; at all times favoring a vigorous prosecution of the war. He is an earnest, impassioned, and forcible speaker at the bar and on the stump, of decided con- victions, and fearless in the expression of them. What- ever he thinks right he expresses, regardless of conse- quences, paying little attention to the popular will. In connection with the law, he takes an active interest in manufacturing, agriculture, and the improvement of the country, and is now largely engaged in farming and the rearing of fine stock, possessing one of the best herds and improved farms in Indiana. Aside from his pro- fessional duties, he has given considerable attention to finance, having been president of the branch at Conners- ville of the Bank of the State of Indiana for several years prior to its close, and afterwards president of the First National Bank of Connersville from its organiza- tion until 1873, when he sold his interest therein. He at all times was, as now, an advocate of a sound and stable currency, based on gold and silver. In 1874 he was the nominee for Congress in the' then Fifth Con- gressional District, but, owing to the unsettled condition of the currency, the depression of prices, and the bank- ruptcy that every-where showed itself, he, with the great body of Republicans, suffered defeat. He made a gallant fight, but could not stem the tidal wave. On

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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 71

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