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 77

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 77

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years afterwards assisted in organizing the Republican party, and has ever since been in accord with it. He was married, May 5, 1852, to Miss Caroline E. Conning- ham, by whom he has had five children. Both himself and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Judge Kibbey is prepossessing in person and manner, and agree- able in social life. Nature has denied him the assurance necessary to success as an orator, and made him averse to much speaking, in order, perhaps, the more fully to develop his powers as a thinker; for his mind is more mathematical than imaginative, more given to deep, logical thought than to fluent speech. His thoughts find easy expression, however, in writing, his written charges being brief and clear. He is fond of abstruse themes, and, in meditating upon them, displays much power of concentration; and, having sound judgment, is thus fitted to comprehend profound principles of law, and analyze and decide intricate cases. His reading is not confined to law, but embraces, also, much of a mis- cellaneous character; and, possessing a retentive mem- ory, he has thus acquired a wide knowledge of general literature. He is an able political manager, and is quite influential in his party.

ILGORE, ALFRED, late of Muncie, will always be remembered as one of the most talented men of Indiana. With an ordinary English education, he arose by his own active energies to the high position he occupied at the bar, in political circles, and in the army. He was the son of Hon. David Kilgore, one of Indiana's ablest men, and was born April 7, 1833, on the "Homestead Farm," in Mount Pleasant Town- ship, Delaware County, where also occurred his death, August 22, 1871. During boyhood he attended the old seminary at Muncie. On leaving school, he engaged for a year or two in teaching, then studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1857, in Muncie, where he soon gained an enviable reputation as a criminal lawyer. Mr. Kilgore held numerous local offices in the city and county prior to 1860; but when the first alarm of war was sounded, in 1861, he was one of the first to offer his services in defense of the old flag and Constitution. He recruited a company, which was assigned as Com- pany B, of the 36th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which regiment he remained, and participated in all the campaigns of the Army of the Cumberland until the battle of Shiloh. Though his spirit was brave, his body was too weak to endure the hardships of the camp and field. Stricken with disease, he lingered in the hospital for months, then was brought home to die. His strong will conquered the disease in a measure, but only par- tially, for it was the cause of his death. In appreciation of his talents and services, his friends elected him to

the state Legislature for two terms, where his voice was always heard on the side he deemed right. Soon after the expiration of his term of office he was appointed United States attorney for the district of Indiana, which place he filled with distinction and honor. He fell in the prime of his manhood; and, in summing up the record of his life, we may truthfully say that, as a sol- dier, he was brave and patriotic, making every sacrifice for his country ; as a legislator, he was fearless, able, faithful, and, above all, incorruptible; as a lawyer, he was earnest, zealous, and brilliant. He was a gentleman of fine social qualities, genial, and devoted in friendship and tenacious in love; and his memory is embalmed in the hearts of his friends forever. Mr. Kilgore married, August 2, 1854, Miss Susan Shoemaker, now the wife of Hon. James N. Templer. Of this happy marriage two children were born-Charles W., a young lawyer, who seems to have inherited his father's genius; and Mollie G. (Mrs. Davis), a lady of rare beauty.

ILGORE, JUDGE DAVID, of Delaware County, was born in Harrison County, Kentucky, April 3, 1804, the second in a family of four sons. His father, Obed Kilgore, was a native of Pennsylva- nia, but for many years was a citizen of Kentucky, where he carried on farming until 1819, and then re- moved with his family to Franklin County, Indiana, then a wilderness. Among the infirmities of his increas- ing years came blindness, but it was only the precursor of that perfect sight that views the glories of the spirit realm, for he soon died at the residence of his son David, at the age of eighty-two. Judge Kilgore's mother was Rebecca (Cuzick) Kilgore; she died in Franklin County in 1843. After the usual course of study in the com- mon schools of his native place and of Franklin County, Indiana, to which the family removed, as above stated, Mr. Kilgore commenced reading law, without a pre- ceptor, but was occasionally aided by Governor James B. Ray and John T. Mckinney, afterward Judge of the state Supreme Court. In 1830, having finished his pre- paratory studies, he started on foot for Delaware County, carrying all his worldly effects, which consisted of a small bundle of clothes, four law-books, and four dol- lars and seventy-five cents in money. On reaching his destination he secured a pre-emption claim and located upon it, but commenced practice. Success at the bar and political influence almost immediately followed ; for in 1832 he was chosen on the Whig ticket to represent Delaware County in the Legislature, was several times re-elected, and in 1856 became speaker of the House, in which position he gave marked satisfaction. In 1839 Mr. Kilgore was elected Judge of the Judicial Circuit com- posed of the counties of Randolph, Delaware, Grant,

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Jay, Blackford, Madison, Wells, and Adams, and served seven years. In 1850 he was a member of the conven- tion that revised the state Constitution. He was elected by heavy majorities to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses, and bore a part in the exciting discussions that there occurred during Buchanan's administration. Judge Kilgore was very active as one of the original builders of the Bee-line Railway, and was its director for about twenty years. At present he is a stockholder and a director in the Citizens' National Bank of Mun- cie, and is also a stockholder in the Muncie National Bank, and in the First National Bank of Indianapolis. He was chiefly instrumental in establishing the Indiana Hospital, at Washington, during the first year of the Civil War. Apropos of his interest in the brave boys who were fighting to preserve the Union, his biographer desires to insert the following extract from a Washington paper of 1861 :

"The members of the Ist New Jersey Regiment and of the Ellsworth Zouaves desire to return their sincere thanks to Hon. David Kilgore, member of Congress from Indiana, for a bountiful supply of letter paper and envelopes, supplied to them on Saturday last, for their correspondence with the dear ones at home. We hope to hear of similar donations to other regiments quar- tered in our city."

Judge Kilgore is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and has taken all the council degrees. He helped organize the Republican party, to which he has ever been firmly attached. With regard to his religious associations, he was born within the pale of the Presby- terian Church, and now attends its services, but is con- nected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He mar- ried, July 14, 1831, Mary G. Van Matre, daughter of the prominent Virginian, Absalom Van Matre. They have had six sons: Henry C., who died in infancy; Alfred, who was a captain in the 36th Indiana Volun- teers, afterward a district attorney, and also member of the Legislature three terms; Obed; Tecumseh, who was surgeon of the 13th Indiana Cavalry ; David, also a captain, and James, a lieutenant, both of the 19th Reg- iment of Infantry. It is interesting to reflect what im- portant results have grown from small beginnings in Judge Kilgore's career. The four law-books which he carried through to Delaware County have gathered to themselves other volumes, till he now has a fine library ; that scanty store of cash has been multiplied, and trans- formed into stocks, houses, and lands; and the lone student trudging his weary way through miles of wil- derness has become the political orator, legislator, law- yer, and jurist. When in the prime of mental vigor he excelled as a stump speaker, and before a jury had no superior in Northern Indiana. He wore the judge's robe with dignity, and brought to every case clear perception, ready power of analysis, and a desire to promote the ends of justice. For years his name and works have

been allied with the educational institutions, public im- provements, courts, and political interests of the state. Health, a high purpose, an unconquerable will, vigorous mental powers, and diligent study are the means by which he has made himself so eminently useful, and every ambitious youth who must fight the battle of life unaided may read with profit the biography of Judge Kilgore.

INSEY, ISAAC, the eldest son and fourth of nine children of Oliver and Sarah (Griffith) Kinsey, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Fifth Month 19, 1821. His father was born at Little Britain, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and his mother at Gunpowder, Baltimore County, Maryland. When he was about two years old, his father, who was a black- smith, moved with his family to within four miles of the city of Baltimore, where he had purchased a farm, and continued his business of blacksmithing and farming for five years later, then moved into the city, where he was largely engaged in the manufacture of edge tools, particularly of axes. In Baltimore Isaac had fair op- portunities for the acquirement of an education, and they were fairly improved. But at the age of eleven years his father returned to the farm he then owned, near which the town of Franklin now stands. About this time his mother died, and he was deprived of her be- nign influence. One of his first teachers was Herman Husband, of Baltimore, who is now living ; and another was James M. Poe, by whom he was taught in Mary- land, and afterwards in Richmond. In May, 1835, his father left Baltimore and drove across the mountains to Indiana in a two-wheel sulky, alone, to look at the country. He was better pleased with Wayne County, Indiana, than any other county that he saw west of his native state, and there determined to try his fortunes. In November of that year he loaded his goods, chattels, and family into a large four-horse wagon and one car- riage, and with Elisha Norris, now living near Rich- mond, as principal driver, he set out on the weary journey for Indiana. The mountains having been passed and the last camp-fire extinguished, they arrived at Rich- mond the following month. The next spring (1836) his father bought a farm of about two hundred acres, situated on the west bank of Whitewater, opposite the city, part of which is now owned and occupied by Will- iam Baxter. From the southern part of this farm his father subsequently laid off West Richmond. For the next four years Isaac's time was principally spent in as- sisting his father and brothers in cultivating the farm in summer and attending the town school in winter. In 1841 his father sold the farm to Robert Morrison and moved into town. Here the son spent the next two years in clerking in a dry-goods store. Soon after this

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he, in company with John Evans, who was a manufac- turer of cough and ague medicines, took a team and wagon and drove into the Western country, and in their trip visited Nauvoo, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to this, the subject of our sketch had seen little of the world, and during this journey he realized. that home was the best place, and that "contentment is great gain," and ever after this he was cured of any dis- position to a wandering life. He now settled down to business, and the first money that he really earned inde- pendent of his father (which proved to be the founda- tion of his future success) was procured by slaughtering hogs for packing. The following spring he engaged in the manufacture of brick, with success. This, together with the meat business, occupied his attention till the winter of 1845 and 1846, when he went to Cincinnati, and engaged with his brother Thomas in the produce business. This brother, attracted by the gold excite- ment, went to California in 1849, leaving the firm with his interest in charge of Isaac, who prosecuted the busi- ness successfully till the return of his brother, in 1852. This California venture had a fortunate termination. In the spring of 1852 the brothers bought the large and beautiful farm now owned entirely by Isaac, on which he now lives. It consists of nearly five hundred acres, embracing some of the richest and best of the second bottom lands in the walnut-level country of Wayne County, Indiana. Here he has the great privileges of country life, with all of its freedom and independence. In 1868, having invested in the Hoosier Drill Works, of Milton, some two miles north of his home, he was elected president of that prosperous manufacturing company, which position he retained till he sold his interest in the establishment, in 1876. This proved to be a remarka- bly successful and remunerative enterprise. On Ninth Month 25, 1847, he was united in marriage with Mary P. Jones, daughter of Aquila and Ann H. Jones. On Ninth Month 25, 1848, was born their daughter and only child, Sarah Griffith Kinsey, who died Seventh Month 23, 1849. Mary Kinsey's father was born in Brandywine Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Ninth Month 9, 1796. He married Ann H. Perine in 1825. They moved to Richmond, Indiana, in 1833, and thence to Cincinnati in 1845. He still survives, being with them in their own home, where, in feeble health, he is cherished by the kindly hands and loving hearts of this daughter and her sister Hannah, who is now living with them. The aged couple moved from Cin- cinnati to Milton in 1865, where his wife passed away, in a ripe old age, in 1877. In politics he is an ardent and uncompromising Republican, though he never sought nor accepted any political office. He belongs to no order or association, excepting the religious society of Friends, in which both he and his wife were born and educated. They live in a most commodious and beau-

tiful home, abundantly supplied with cupboards, closets, and cozy recesses which so much delight the hearts of good housekeepers. The dwelling is lighted with gas manufactured on the premises, and supplied with water raised by a wind-pump, and heated by a furnace in the cellar. Considering the size, elegance, and completeness in all of its appointments, it is an exception for a coun- try dwelling. Added to all this is attached a conserva- tory of rare flowers and plants, which lend an air of taste and refinement to the surroundings. In this ele- gant home is dispensed hospitality with a liberal hand, as many friends can testify. The location is an admira- bly chosen one, with fine views from the observatory on the north and west; and especially on the east the landscape is delightful, embracing the fine valley of the West River, threaded by two railroads, and bounded by the forests and higher lands beyond. Our subject descended from healthy and temperate ancestry, and these qualities he possesses in an admirable degree. In business he is thoroughly energetic and straightforward, and possesses an unblemished character for honesty and integrity. With good social qualities, he has an honest hatred for sham and shoddy.

LINE, WILLIAM B., of the firm of Wysor, Kline & Co., Muncie, is the son of Benjamin and Harriet (Boone) Kline, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. His father carried on the mer- cantile business in Pricetown, a small village in Berks County, where the family resided until the year 1838. They then emigrated to Butler County, Ohio. Here they remained until 1841, when the father died. The subject of this sketch led the life of a country lad, at- tending the district schools, and working on the farm during the summer. Farming as then carried on af- forded little scope for the exercise of other than mere muscular abilities; and he felt that to till the soil was to neglect the mind. Under these circumstances he went to Hamilton, Ohio, and engaged as clerk in the dry-goods establishment of Matthias & Kline, where he remained until the spring of 1844. The firm then estab- lished a branch store in Cambridge City, which, having discovered Mr. Kline's superior business qualifications, they intrusted to his management. Meanwhile he studiously devoted his spare moments to reading good and useful books. At the end of two years the business changed from trade in dry-goods to that in hardware, and afterwards into the warehouse and transportation business. Courteous toward all, careful and conscien- tious, Mr. Kline soon won the esteem and confidence of the community, and established a reputation as a suc- cessful and enterprising business man. Pursuing this course undeviatingly, he increased the business until in

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1848, upon the breaking out of the "gold fever," he left his position and started for California, by way of Panama, arriving there in January of the following year. He at once engaged in mining, and, subsequently, in the mercantile trade, and was moderately success- ful until 1852, when he returned to Cincinnati. In · March, 1853, he removed to Muncie. Forming a co- partnership with Captain Gilbert Beemer, he engaged in the grocery business, under the firm name of Kline & Beemer. March 13, 1858, Mr. Kline bought a one- third interest in the firm of Wysor & Jack, carrying on a general milling business in the city of Muncie. The firm of Wysor, Jack & Co. existed until Mr. Jack's death, in 1859, when the firm of Wysor & Kline was formed. They carried on a prosperous business until 1875, when Mr. Wallace Hibbitts bought a one-third interest, making the firm, which is now known through- out Western Indiana, of Wysor, Kline & Co. Mr. Kline is also represented in other business enterprises, and superintends the management of two very fine farms, situated in Delaware County. Previous to the organization of the Republican party, of which he is now a firm supporter, he was an old-line Whig, and cast his first vote for Henry Clay, in 1844. He has never sought political preferment, although he allowed his name to be used as that of an independent candi- date for state Senator on the Republican ticket in 1870, and during that canvass he made speeches throughout the senatorial district. Mr. Kline's business career has been marked by the exhibition of those qualities which make success almost a certainty, possessing that rare ex- ecutive ability indispensable in the management of any large business. These qualities were developed in early life, and have enabled him to acquire a competence and a position with the best men of Muncie. He is somewhat liberal in his religious convictions, and is a member of the Universalist Church, having assisted in the organization of that denomination in Muncie. In 1846 he associated himself with the Independent Order of Odd-fellows. He is of a generous nature, kind, benevolent, and ever willing to lend a helping hand to a friend; positive, quick, and active, and, in his social relations, genial and affable. Mr. Kline married Miss Mary Conwell on the twenty-fourth day of February, 1853. They have one son, born to them on the 30th of November, 1855.

IRBY, THOMAS, late of Muncie, was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, December 25, 1804. He attended school until he reached the age of ten, when he entered a woolen factory, where he worked, attending school every winter, for ten years. In the fall of 1827 he migrated to Richmond, Indiana, and there engaged at his trade, in the employment of

Levinas King. After remaining in that situation one year, he commenced buying and selling furs, deerskins, and ginseng, of which plant he bought about six thou- sand pounds per annum. It grew spontaneously through- out a large portion of this state, and was then a staple article of commerce between this country and China. In 1830 Mr. Kirby removed to Muncie, and engaged in the mercantile business for five years. At the end of this period, having become the owner of a tract of land, a part of which is now within the city of Muncie, he turned his attention to farming, in which, together with transactions in real estate, he was occupied for the remainder of his life. Mr. Kirby cast his first ballot for John Quincy Adams, and was afterward a Republi- can ; but he took very little interest in politics, except when momentous issues were at stake, and never sought nor accepted public office. In religion he was a Univer- salist. Mr. Kirby married, July 15, 1833, Miss Sarah H. Tomlinson, a native of North Carolina. They had five children, three sons-Hickman, John, and George; and two daughters: Martha A., married to A. H. Ham- ilton, merchant ; and Elizabeth, wife of J. A. Ifeinsohn, proprietor of the Kirby House. The life of Mr. Kirby, for nearly half a century, was blended with the history of Muncie. He built the first brick store, and made other improvements, among which is a fine hotel. He owned about one thousand acres adjoining the town, and has made six additions to the city of Muncie, each containing from thirty to eighty lots. The grounds on which were built the Universalist and Presbyterian churches were donated by him. Mr. Kirby was one of the first two merchants in the place, and one of the first trustees. Muncie, or Outainink, as it was called by the Indians, was once the home of the Shawnee prophet, the brother of Tecumseh; and in those early days, although the red man had buried the tomahawk, wikl animals still ranged the forest, loath to yield to encroach- ing civilization. The subject of this memoir was an energetic worker from boyhood. So long a resident of Delaware County, he was known throughout its length and breadth; and all speak of him in terms of respect, as one whose acts were ever free from craft and dis- honor, and governed by righteous motives.

OONTZ, JACOB H., merchant and farmer, of Yorktown, is the son of Jacob and Deborah (Combs) Koontz, both of whom were natives of Virginia. His father was of German descent, and his mother of Scotch-Irish extraction. In the year 1817 they left their native state, and removed to Ohio. Two years later they settled in Fayette County, Indiana, where the subject of this sketch was born, December 27, 1827. Here they continued to reside until the year fol-

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lowing, when they removed to Henry County, Indiana, where his father subsequently laid out the place which is now known as Middletown, and where he died in 1830. Some time afterward his mother married again, and the family went to Delaware County. Here Jacob H. Koontz was allowed the privilege of attending the dis- trict schools during the winter months, and in summer was employed upon the farm. At the age of sixteen he left home because of the abuse of his stepfather, and engaged to work as a regular farm hand. He was the first man in his township to receive the sum of ten dollars per month, which was considered very high wages in those primitive days. He supported himself in this way, attending school during the winter, until 1849, when, having saved enough money from his hard earnings, he attended the Muncie Seminary for one year, and became proficient in the English branches. In 1850, being then about twenty-two years old, he embarked at New Orleans, in a sailing vessel, for California. After a long and tedious voyage of one hundred and twenty days, he arrived in San Francisco on the 25th of April. Mr. Koontz engaged at once in mining, which he con- tinued with moderate success until December, 1851. He returned home by the same route, reaching his des- tination in February, 1852. With the means accumu- lated while in California, he engaged in the mercan- tile business in his adopted village, and conducted it successfully during a period of four years. He then purchased the Yorktown Mills, which he carried on until 1865, when he sold the property. For the next five years he directed his attention to selling merchandise ; then sold his stock of goods, and removed to one of his farms, located two and one-half miles south-east of Yorktown, feeling great relief at being able to lay aside the cares and anxieties of mercantile life. Here he has resided ever since, and, active and prosperous as a mer- chant, he has been equally so as a farmer. In 1863, during the Morgan raid, he was commissioned by Gov- ernor Morton captain of a company of minute-men, who were afterward organized into companies for the Indiana Legion. He was then commissioned colonel of the Delaware regiment. Mr. Koontz has always taken a deep interest in schools and education, was made township trustee in 1854-one of the first elected under the new school law-and has served in this ca- pacity for seventeen years. In 1876 he was elected joint Representative from the counties of Jay and Del- aware, and served as chairman of the Committee on Roads. While in the House, he heard from an old friend, who was then in the Minnesota Legislature. They had worked on a farm together when boys in La- porte County ; and Mr. Koontz, upon learning this friend's address, wrote to him, and found that he also had been appointed chairman of the Committee on Roads. As they had not seen or heard of each other

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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 77

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