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 72

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 72

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B. J. ClayMore.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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the 4th of August, 1853, he married Miss Alice Helm, eldest daughter of Doctor Jefferson Helm, of Rush County, Indiana. They have two children, a son and daughter. The son is now a partner with his father in the practice of the law.

LAYPOOL, ABRAHAM J., banker and farmer, of Muncie, was born in Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana, August 20, 1829. His paternal grandfather came from Ireland, the land of his birth, about the year 1745, to Harding County, Virginia. He was a brother of David C. Claypool, who published the first daily paper in Philadelphia, in partnership with Ben- jamin Franklin. Newton Claypool, Abraham's father, was a native of Virginia, and emigrated to Indiana in 1814, while it was yet a territory. He became a banker in Connersville, and controlled the banking business of that community about thirty years. He was one of the most prominent men of Fayette County, and represented it in both Houses of the Legislature. A man of persist- ent purpose, he never undertook any thing that he did not carry through to the end. He died in Indianapolis in 1866, at the age of seventy-three, much respected through life and greatly mourned in death. The mother of the subject of this sketch was Mary (Kerns) Claypool, born in Ross County, Ohio, near Chillicothe. Her father was Benjamin Kerns, of Welsh descent, a native of Phil- adelphia, and the builder of the old Schuylkill bridge in that city. Her mother belonged to the society of Friends. Abraham J. Claypool prepared for college at Connersville, and, entering the State University in Bloom- ington at the age of sixteen, remained there until he was twenty years old, but did not graduate. On leaving that institution, he went to Cincinnati and became a stu- dent in the Commercial College. The studies there pur- sued were especially congenial to him, and he made very gratifying progress. At the close of the course he re- turned to Connersville, where his father established him in the dry-goods trade, which he carried on successfully until 1861. In 1856 Mr. Claypool helped organize the branch Bank of the State of Indiana, and was a director until 1863, when he assisted in establishing the national bank, of which he was a director and the assistant cash- ier until 1871. In that year he removed to Muncie and established on an independent basis the Muncie Bank, which he has since ably and successfully conducted, having, like his father, superior financial ability. As his paternal ancestors owned large estates, he, too, has become the proprietor of a farm of thirteen hundred acres, which is now under his immediate supervision. His time has been necessarily engrossed with his own business affairs, yet he has not been regardless of the public welfare, and has endeavored to promote the com-

mercial interests of Muncie, in identifying himself with the work of building several turnpikes and railroads. Mr. Claypool does not subscribe to any religious creed, although his wife attends the Christian Church. He was formerly a Whig, General Scott having been the first presidential candidate for whom he voted, and he is now a member of the Republican party, but never seeks political honors. He married, January 31, 1854, Miss Melinda Scofield, of Connersville. In becoming a banker, Mr. Claypool chose the calling for which nature had eminently fitted him. He has led an uneventful life, because not capricious or visionary; and this stability is one of the elements of his success. "He is a man of first- rate business qualifications, of sterling integrity, and fine social qualities. He contributes liberally of his wealth to worthy objects, and is regarded as one of the best of citizens. It may also be said of him, what is true of few others, that he has never been sued by any one in court, nor had his note protested.

OTTERAL, WILLIAM WILSON, auditor of Henry County, was born in Union County, Indi- ana, May 10, 1830, and is the second of three children of George W. and Ruth (Macy) Cotteral, who emigrated from North Carolina. He was educated in the common subscription schools of his native county, which were in session but two or three months in each year. His father died when he was but six years old, and at this tender age he was bound to William Elder until he should be twenty-one. Here he worked on the farm until the year 1850, when Mr. Elder moved with him to Troy, Missouri. After he reached his majority he attended the high school of Troy for three months, which completed his school education. In October, 1853, he returned to his native place, and in 1854 went to Middletown, Henry County, where for a time he was clerk in a miscellaneous store. He afterwards purchased a store, and from 1860 to 1865 was postmaster at Mid- dletown. At the end of this time he took charge of the railroad depot, as agent, expressman, and telegraph op- erator. In the spring of 1874 he was nominated for auditor of the county, and in October of that year was elected to that position, which he now occupies to the satisfaction of the community. In 1878 he was renom- inated and re-elected for a second term. He has taken all the degrees in the Blue Lodge of the Masonic Fra- ternity. In November, 1854, he married Miss V. E. Burr, of Middletown. They have an interesting family of three sons and one daughter. Since 1854 he has been a member of the Christian Church, to which Mrs. Cotteral also belongs. Mr. Cotteral is a gentleman of even, genial disposition, a courteous and efficient officer, and has the confidence and respect of his neighbors.

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AVIS, CLARKSON, A. M., principal of the Spice- land Academy, was born in Wayne County, Indi- ana, January 7, 1833. His father, Willis Davis, was from North Carolina, and of Welsh descent. Ilis mother, whose maiden name was Ann Coggshall, came from Nantucket, and was of English extraction. Professor Davis has struggled up from humble circum- stances in youth to his present position without aid, impelled by an innate force that no obstacles could long resist, a desire for knowledge that no superficial attain- ments could satisfy. In boyhood he first attended a district school in Grant County, at that time a thinly settled region, to which the family removed in 1838; and he spent one term at Bloomingdale Academy, then in charge of B. C. Hobbs, since State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1856 he studied five months in Earlham College, Richmond, and was then chosen tutor. After acting as such one year he was placed in charge of the mathematical department, where he con- tinued teaching until the spring of 1863. During these and subsequent years he advanced by private study ; and so diligent and thorough was he that in 1868 his attainments were sufficient to warrant the faculty in con- ferring upon him the degree of A. M., which was done without his knowledge. The summer of 1863 was passed on a farm, but the ensuing fall found him in charge of the Spiceland Academy, in Henry County. Here he remained nine years, devoting all his energies to the interests of the school, and making it one of the best of its kind in the state. During the first three winter seasons he spent his leisure in the study of Greek and German. The fourth year, 1867, he went to the Paris Exposition, and visited various parts of Europe. At the close of the school year in 1873, work in the class-room and severe study having impaired his health, he resigned, and en- gaged with Harper & Brothers, New York, as their special agent for Iowa and Minnesota. In this business he was employed three years. In the fall of 1876 he returned, at the earnest solicitation of the trustees of Spiceland Academy, and again took charge of the school. In September, 1878, Professor Davis was appointed a member of the board of managers of Earlham College, and has been urged to accept the presidency of that institution. He has won such a reputation among the teachers of the West that Harper & Brothers set high value upon it as an aid in the sale of their school pub- lications. With a mind naturally capable, developed and enriched by study, travel, and experience, he has become one of the ablest of educators; and, having fine business talents, has accumulated an ample competence. He is a birthright member of the society of Friends. In politics he is a Republican, and in 1871 was elected superintendent of county schools. He was married, September 4, 1862, to Miss Hannah E. Brown, of Wayne County.

UDLEY, WILLIAM WADE, late lieutenant-col- onel of the 19th Regiment Indiana Volunteers, and breveted brigadier-general of United States Volunteers, for gallantry at the battle of Gettys- burg, Pennsylvania, was born at Weathersfield Bow, Windsor County, Vermont, August 27, 1842. His fa- ther, John Dudley, a native of Richmond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, was born November 3, 1805. He is a graduate of Yale Theological Seminary. His mother, Abby Wade Dudley, a native of Old Ipswich, Massachusetts, was born February 26, 1808. She is a graduate of the Ipswich Female Seminary, under Misses Grant and Lyon. His parents were married in 1834, and his father entered upon the work of the min- istry in 1835, in which he continued with great accept- ance and success for twenty-three years, being settled at Chillicothe and Cincinnati, Ohio; Mount Clement, Michigan; Weathersfield Bow, Quechee, and Danville, Vermont, as pastor of Congregational Churches. From the latter place he moved to Orange, Connecticut, where, hoping to educate his children thoroughly, he opened a boarding school for boys, subsequently remov- ing it to New Haven, Connecticut. From New Haven his parents moved to Boston, Massachusetts; thence to Wayne County, Indiana. His father is the third son of Timothy Dudley, who was the son of John Dudley, junior, who was the first son of John Dudley, one of the early settlers of Massachusetts. His mother is the third child of William Wade, who was a son of Colonel Na- thaniel Wade. Colonel Wade was one of the first to bear arms in the Revolutionary War, was among the minute-men at Concord, Lexington, and Bunker Hill, rising from the ranks to the office of lieutenant-colonel and aide-de-camp to General Washington, and was the officer placed in command of West Point upon the de- sertion of Arnold. He served through the war with dis- tinction, and filled offices of honor and trust afterwards until his death. Colonel Dudley's early education began at Phillips's Academy, Danville, Vermont ; and was com- pleted at Russell's Collegiate and Commercial Institute, New Haven, Connecticut. At the latter school, which with a thorough classical course combines a most excellent military department, he acquired a thorough military education as well as an advanced classical one-fitting for the class of 1861 in Yale. He arrived in Richmond in August, 1860, and was engaged in milling when the call to arms came in 1861. He refrained from enlisting at the beginning, as, having at his mother's request de- clined military life, he felt that he should not go with- out her full and free consent. This came in time for the second call for three hundred thousand by President Lincoln, and by vote of his company, the Richmond City Greys, of which he was captain, their services were tendered Governor Morton, and at once accepted. The independent organization was abandoned, and a recruit-

Willian / Queley

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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ing office opened in Richmond, Indiana, July 3, 1861. On July 5 he was unanimously chosen captain, and started for Indianapolis with a full company composed of young men from that Quaker community. Arriving at Indianapolis, his company was assigned to the 19th Indiana Volunteers, commanded by Solomon Meredith, of Wayne County, then in the rendezvous at Camp Morton, and was mustered into service for three years or during the war, July 29, 1861, and by lot he became the second ranking captain of the regiment, Company B. The regiment being ordered to Washington, District of Columbia, via Baltimore, Maryland, Companies A and B were armed by the Governor with Enfield rifles, and reached Washington City on the morning of August 9, 1861. It encamped on Kalorama Heights, north-west of Washington, until brigaded with the 6th, 2d, and 7th Wisconsin, when the brigade was moved into Virginia, at Chain Bridge. There the rounds of picket and intrenchment work began, and the regiment suffered great hardships, to which fully one-third suc- cumbed. His first engagement with the enemy was at Lewinsville, September 21, 1861, where the regiment suffered some slight losses. After the completion of the chain of forts near Chain Bridge, the brigade was moved to the Arlington estate and encamped for the winter of 1861-62. He participated in every round of duty, drill, picket, or skirmish with his regiment, was engaged in the battles of Rappahannock Station, August 16th, 17th, and 18th ; Sulphur Springs, near Warrenton, August 25th and 26th ; Gainesville, August 28th ; second Bull Run, August 29th and 30th ; South Mountain, September 14th ; and Antietam, September 16th, 17th, and 18th, in 1862. In this last engagement he commanded his regiment, Colonel Bachman being mortally wounded, Colonel Mer- edith disabled at South Mountain, and Major May killed at Gainesville. He commanded the regiment until about December 1, 1862, when, Colonel Meredith being promoted to brigadier-general, he should have become, in regular succession and by recommendation, colonel. He preferred, however, a brave fellow-officer, and waived his rank in favor of Captain Samuel J. Williams, of Company K. After some demur, both in the regiment and at Indianapolis, Colonel Dudley's wishes were re- spected, and he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. After considerable marching and bi- vouacking, he was engaged with his regiment, Decem- ber 13 and 14, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Virginia; again at Fitzhugh Crossing, April 30 and May 1, 1863; at Chancellorsville, May 3 and 4, 1863; and on July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The brigade was placed in an exposed position at the latter battle, and his regiment lost seventy-two per centum of the men engaged on the first day, July 1, Colonel Dudley being one of the wounded. From the effect of this wound his right leg was amputated; after a third operation it A-22

healed, and he at last recovered, after an illness of nearly a year. He was elected clerk of the Wayne Circuit Court at the October election in 1866, and was re-elected in 1870. During his term of office he directed his studies to the law, and upon retirement from office, January 19, 1875, was admitted to the bar, and took up the practice of the law at Richmond, leaving it in September, 1875, to accept the position of cashier of the Richmond Savings Bank, whence he was appointed United States marshal for the District of Indiana, on February 11, 1879. He was, during a part of his serv- ice as county clerk, chairman of the Wayne County Republican central committee, and afterward a member of the Republican state central committee, and thus was identified with the politics of the state. He became a member of the Independent Order of Odd-fellows in January, 1864, at Selma, and afterward was a charter member of Richmond Lodge, No. 254, at Richmond, Indiana. He was a prominent member of the Union League, and represented the soldiers of Wayne County at the great convention at Pittsburgh in 1866, and again in 1871. He became a member of the Masonic Fra- ternity at Centerville, Indiana, in 1870, and is now a member of Webb Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Richmond, Indiana. His religious views are what might be termed liberal orthodox. Brought up a Con- gregationalist, he early discovered a liking for the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was united to that Church in 1864, since which he has been one of its working members. He was born a Whig, brought up an Abolitionist, and is, of course, a Republican. His views have undergone no change, nor will be likely to. He was married, October 18, 1864, to Theresa Fiske, of Richmond, Indiana, the only daughter and survivor of the Rev. George Fiske, who founded and maintained St. Paul's Church, Richmond, Indiana, from 1837 to his death, in 1860; he was its first rector, and only laid down his charge in 1855, when attacked by his last sickness. To them have been born seven children, five of whom are still living. To omit from Colonel Dud- ley's record an emphatic commendation of him as a man, and a genial, warm-hearted friend, would leave untold some of his most strongly marked characteristics. In business he reveals the same energy and spirit that characterized his military life. He is a warm partisan and an enthusiast for his party's success, but not a bitter politician. In the social circle, a gentleman of culture and education, a genial, pleasant companion and a sympathizing friend ; at home, a tender husband and in- dulgent father; in war, the gallant soldier; in peace, the modest, unassuming man of business, tenacious of his convictions, and fearless of upholding them-such is the picture presented by one who has known him from boyhood, and the biographer gives it with the cer- tainty that all who know the Colonel will recognize it.

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REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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ARING, WILLIAM PERCIVAL, physician and | surgeon, Richmond, was born in Fayette County, Indiana, April 18, 1827. His parents were Joshua and Margaret (Houghton) Waring. He was early required to work on the farm, and, losing his father at the age of fourteen, his labors were so in- creased that his school advantages were greatly lim- ited. When he was seventeen he entered the Beech- grove Academy, chopping wood for his board. In two terms he fitted himself to teach school, which he did for three years, his last being the Whitewater school in Richmond. This school was under charge of the Friends, and was closed in 1849, owing to the prev- alence of cholera. Mr. Waring's tastes had long in- clined him to the medical profession, and he began his studies that fall in Richmond, under the instruction of Doctor John T. Plummer. He soon entered the Ohio Medical College. From that institution he graduated in 1852, receiving the degree of M. D. He then com- menced practice at Richmond in partnership with his former preceptor, and remained in that connection two years. At the end of that time he removed to Thorn- town, Boone County, where he practiced seven years; and then, in 1861, returned to Richmond, which has ever since been his home and the field of his practice. In 1866 Doctor Waring joined the Independent Order of Odd-fellows, of which he is still a member. He be- longed to the Wayne County Medical Society during its entire existence-a period of about twelve years-serv- ing most of that time as its secretary. In 1862 he joined the State Medical Society. He is by birthright a mem- ber of the society of Friends. Formerly a Whig, he is now a Republican. He married, July 3, 1852, Miss Se- mira Hiatt, of Milton, by whom he has had three chil- dren, two daughters and one son; the latter died Jan- uary 19, 1877. Doctor Waring conscientiously discharges every duty. Prudence and moderation are among his chief characteristics, and his life seems governed by pure and just precepts. He undertakes only what he can perform. He instinctively sympathizes with every moral reform, and looks with disapprobation upon any inno- vation in religion. As a citizen, he is highly respected. His diligence and carefulness have secured him a good practice ; and it is worthy of note that he is the family physician of one of the best medical practitioners in the state.

U HADWAY, CALEB S., auditor-elect of Wayne County, Milton, Indiana, was born December II, 1826. He is the son of Peter and Martha (Reeves) Du Hadway, and is the only child living. His few educational advantages were principally found in Richmond, Indiana. His circumstances required him to leave school at fourteen years of age, and prepare to

earn his own living. He first entered the store of his uncle, James E. Reeves, as clerk, where he continued for about three years, when he took a similar position in Mark E. Reeves's store, at Hagerstown. In 1848, in connection with Edward Vaughan, he bought out the proprietor, and continued the business for two years, when his partner went to California during the mania for gold in 1850. Mr. Du Hadway continued the busi- ness which, proving unfortunate, he closed in April, 1855. For the next five years he was engaged in insur- ance, at the end of which time he removed to Rich- mond, and went into the auction business with C. W. Ferguson. The next year he cultivated a farm, and in 1863 he traveled as salesman for Vanuxem & Leeds, During the following two or three years he served as bookkeeper and general accountant, and in 1876 he entered an office as deputy treasurer for the county. While here fortune smiled upon him, and, on offering as candidate for county auditor, he was nominated over eight excellent applicants, and was elected to that posi- tion in October, 1878. On June 2, 1852, he married Miss Priscilla Buchanan, daughter of Doctor Buchanan, of Hagerstown, and has an interesting family of three children. Mr. Du Hadway is an honored citizen, and has the confidence of the community in which he lives. He is a member of the Masonic Order in good standing.

LDER, JAMES, journalist, of Richmond, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1818. He is the first son among the seven children of Samuel and Jane (Oliver) Elder, both of Scotch ancestry. His opportunities for acquiring an education were very limited, as his home was three miles from the only school he could attend, and that being held but three months in the year. His boyhood was char- acterized by a fondness for useful reading, and he early conceived the idea of becoming a printer, even before he saw a printing-press. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to that trade in the office of the Franklin Repository, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. During his apprenticeship, which lasted four years, he studied in a night-class in an academy; and by that means, and through his experience in the printing-office, the most important part of his education has been obtained. In March, 1839, he set out for the West, thinking it offered greater inducements to young men than the thickly peopled East. Having stopped in Cincinnati, he worked as a journeyman printer for a short time, and then, in June of the same year, went on to Richmond, Indiana, where he has ever since remained. He was at once engaged as a journeyman in the office of the Jeffersonian, and after a few weeks entered into an engagement with the proprietor, S. E. Perkins, now a Judge of the Su-

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preme Court of Indiana, to publish that journal for one | year. In November, 1840, he bought the establishment, and continued to edit and publish the paper, except during a period of six months, until January, 1865, when its publication was discontinued. In December, 1845, Mr. Elder was appointed postmaster by President Polk, and served in that capacity until a change of ad- ministration, in 1849. In August of that year he was elected Representative to the Legislature, though his party was greatly in the minority. During that session he was made a member of the Committee of Ways and Means, and chairman of that on Benevolent Institutions, two of the most important committees of the House. In the spring of 1846, while postmaster, he engaged in the book and stationery business, which he conducted over thirty years. In 1853 he was again" appointed post- master, by President Pierce, and held that office two terms. In 1853 and 1854 he served one term as school trustee, and was always a warm advocate of the common school system and of all educational interests. He was elected a member of the city council at the first election under the new charter, in 1867, was re-elected the fol- lowing year, and also in 1870 and 1872. In May, 1873, he was chosen mayor, and served two years. He has been a delegate to three Democratic national conven- tions; namely, the Baltimore Convention in 1848, the Cincinnati Convention in 1856, and the St. Louis Con- vention in 1876. Mr. Elder is not a member of any Church or society. His sympathies are more fully with the Presbyterian Church, in which he was trained by his parents, who were members of that denomination ; but he usually attends the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which his wife belongs. As has already appeared, his political connection is with the Democratic party, and he has been an active politician. Mr. Elder mar- ried, in December, 1840, Miss Ann Mattis, by whom he had two children, Samuel and Ann. They, and also their mother, have passed away; the death of the latter occurred in September, 1845. In September, 1848, he married Miss Eliza J. Haines. They have had three children, James F., Mary, and Fannie; the first two are living. As the Democratic party is outnumbered in Wayne County by its opponents, Mr. Elder's abil- ities have not been as fully recognized as they would otherwise have been. He has fair business tact, and his careful judgment, his knowledge of men and po- litical history, and his experience as a journalist, have enabled him to discharge with credit the pub- lic duties at various times assigned to him. He was appointed sheriff in September, 1878, by the Supreme Court of the state, and is now holding that posi- tion. Mr. Elder has won the esteem of his fellow- citizens as a man of candor, integrity, and benevo- lence. He is a man of excellent standing and high ability.

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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 72

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