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 81

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 81

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EELLE, WILLIAM A., ex-Secretary of State, was born in Richmond County, North Carolina, September 18, 1819. His parents, William and Sally (Cox) Peelle, removed to Wayne County, In- diana, in 1820, while he was yet an infant. Circum- stances forbade his attendance at school, yet he stud- ied-often by the light of a fire of bark-so diligently that at the age of sixteen he was fitted to teach the com- mon school in his home district. He continued teach-

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ing, most of the time in Wayne County, until 1842. At about this time he attended a seminary one term-the only school in which he was ever a pupil, except the common school. In 1839 he began reading law, devot- ing to it the time not employed in his duties as a teacher. In 1842 he married Miss Eveline Boyd, daughter of Samuel K. Boyd, of Kentucky, and in a few weeks afterward removed to Marion, Grant County, Indiana, and resumed teaching and read- ing law. In October, 1845, Mr. Peelle was admitted to the bar, and in August of the following year he removed to Winchester, Randolph County, and opened a law office. Two years later he was elected prosecuting attorney for the Circuit Court of that county, and, in 1854 was chosen Judge of the Common Pleas Court for the counties of Randolph and Jay. In 1858 he was nominated by the Republican State Con- vention for Secretary of State, but was defeated in the election, according to the count. In 1860 Judge Peelle was renominated for the same office and elected, and in January of the following year he removed to Indian- apolis and entered upon the duties of that position. In 1862 he was again renominated for the office of Secre- tary of State, but was defeated at the polls. In April, 1863, having purchased Governor Morton's homestead, in Centerville, then the county seat of Wayne County, he removed thither, and again engaged in the practice of law. In the year 1866 he was elected to represent Wayne County in the Lower House of the General As- sembly, and he served during the session of 1867. Im- mediately after the adjournment of the Legislature, Governor Baker appointed him Judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court. In 1877 he removed to Rich- mond, where he now resides. In politics Judge Peelle was first a Whig, until that party ceased to be, when he became a Republican, but, as he says, "in the lan- guage of General Taylor, not an 'ultra Republican.'" He is a believer in the doctrines taught in the Bible, but thinks the Churches generally fail to teach the genuine religion of that book. Judge Peelle was always very industrious, often doing, as if through mere love of work, what is usually left to subordinates. He comes of a long-lived race, and now, in the sixtieth year of his age, labors as hard as ever in his profession. He is a good counselor, and as a speaker is vigorous and pointed, seeking not to charm by grace of speech and delivery, but to convince by clear and forcible argu- ment. These abilities are not made, even in the prac- tice of law, wholly subservient to the purposes of gain, for he has been known to exert all his energies for a poor oppressed client, even to the sacrifice of his own interests. In business he is exact and just, and in poli- tics, though so active and prominent, he never engages in intrigue. What Judge Peelle has accomplished is due entirely to his own efforts, for, since the age of

fourteen, he has supported and educated himself with- out aid. Such examples should shame those youths who waste their superior advantages in frivolity or vice, and rouse them to manly endeavor.

OLK, ROBERT L., of New Castle, Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, is the son of Robert H., a descendant of William Polk, who came from Ireland, and located in the eastern part of Virginia before the Revolution. An earnest, outspoken patriot, he labored to convert the wavering public sen- timent of his neighborhood into a firm support of the cause of American independence. This was not done without sacrifice, for it so excited the ill will of the Tories that they destroyed his large salt works, the furniture of his house, and other property. Impelled by that strong love of country that makes men oblivious of personal interests, he endangered his life as well as property by entering the army as captain of militia. December 11, 1823, Robert H. Polk married Hannah Hodgin, of Guilford County, North Carolina, a lady of English descent, and in 1841 removed to Henry County, Indiana, where, on the 12th of October of that year, his son Robert L. was born. While the father was a farmer in a region comparatively new, he could give his boy only the ordinary advantages of country lads. When Robert was eleven years of age, however, the family removed to New Castle, the county seat, where for two years he attended the county seminary, which was under the charge of James S. Ferris and Russell B. Abbott, both very able teachers. After taking a regular course at the Bryant and Stratton Commercial College at Cleveland, he entered Whitewater College at Center- ville, that institution being under the management of Professor W. H. Barnes, an author and prominent edu- cator. After remaining there one year, he returned to New Castle. He had long aimed to become a lawyer, and availed himself of every opportunity for studying law, until at last he was qualified for admission to the bar. He entered the office of James Brown, Esq .; but his preceptor, finding him already well advanced, and a man of promise, took him into partnership in the spring of 1863. This relation existed until 1872, when Mr. Polk was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, he being at that time only thirty years of age. His term was of short duration, as the office was abolished the following year. He then resumed practice alone, and continued it until the fall of 1876. In that year he was elected to his present position of Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, embracing the counties of Henry and Hancock. Although called to this responsi- ble office while yet a young man, Judge Polk has ably performed its duties, and in this capacity has fully an-

R. L Folk

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swered the expectations excited by his success as an attorney. He was elected on the Republican ticket, with which party he has been connected since the elec- tion of Mr. Lincoln, in 1860. He is a class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church ; and it-is believed that he is governed, both in public and in private life, by a high sense of religious duty. Judge Polk was married, November 28, 1865, to Harriet, daughter of Rev. Milton Mahin, D. D. In the society of his wife and children, Paul, Mary, George, Catherine, and Dudley, he finds his chief recreation; and thus, with his fine residence and pleasant grounds, there is presented a beautiful re- lation between the physical and the moral features of home too rarely seen. As a lawyer and jurist, Judge Polk ranks among the best in that circuit. He has al- ways been a diligent student, and in legal knowledge has no superior among his associates, while his decisions have shown much power of analysis, and a judgment which is universally sound.

OWELL, SIMON T., president of the Bundy Na- tional Bank, New Castle, was born near Cambridge City, Wayne County, Indiana, August 21, 1821. When a child of five years his parents, John and Margaret (Huff) Powell, who were from Kentucky, re- moved to Illinois, and located near Danville, where, in 1830, his mother died, leaving three sons and four daugh- ters. John Powell, a prominent man in Sullivan, Illi-

nois, is the only surviving brother. Simon attended a district school in Champaign County, Illinois, and after- wards entered St. Gabriel's College at Vincennes. Not possessing the means, however, to defray his expenses, he soon left the institution, and went to Cambridge City, where he studied under Professor Hoshour. In 1841 he became a teacher in the county seminary at New Castle. Whatever time could be spared from his duties was oc- cupied in reading law, and in 1843 he was admitted to the bar. Soon afterward he obtained the situation of deputy clerk of the county, in which capacity he acted about eight years. At the close of this period he was elected clerk, which office he held five years. He then resumed practice, and continued it until the beginning of the Rebellion. Mr. Powell did not enter the army, nor hold any office during the war; yet few men in the state rendered the government more valuable aid. He was an intimate friend of Governor Morton, who often sought his advice, and relied much upon his judgment and assistance. Not only were his services given with- out remuneration, but he also levied largely upon his own means. A still greater sacrifice was made when he gave to the cause his son, Adjutant Orlistus W. Powell, who was killed at Chickamauga. His other son, Henry L., was also a soldier, and was wounded at the battle

of Rich Mountain. In 1871 Mr. Powell was honored by President Grant with the appointment of supervisor of internal revenue. There were ten such officers ap- pointed throughout the United States, and so great was the temptation to bribery and collusion that only two of the number preserved their integrity. One of these was Mr. Powell. During the five years he occupied that position he performed his work faithfully and well. Finally, he engaged in the banking business, and be- came vice-president of the First National Bank. In January, 1877, he was made president of the Bundy National Bank. He has been very active as a member of the Republican party, his abilities and influence enabling him to contribute much to its success. He is a charter member of Lodge No. 59 of the Independ- ent Order of Odd-fellows; has acted as Noble Grand, and been several times a delegate to the Grand Lodge. Mr. Powell is one of the best of financiers, and possesses in a high degree all the qualities essential to the suc- cessful business man. That he is blessed with an un- usual diversity of mental gifts is fully demonstrated by what he has done in law, in finance, and in civil office. Through the force of his own genius alone, he has mounted step by step, until he is at present one of the wealthiest, most capable, and influential citizens of Henry County. A Latin proverb warns us to call no man fortunate until he is dead; yet, if to have acquired knowledge in the face of adversity; to have pushed through all difficulties in the pursuit of a worthy end; to have gained and made a wise use of wealth; to have filled with credit high offices of trust, is success, it is safe to pronounce the career of Simon T. Powell a suc- cessful one. He was married, April 5, 1842, to Eliza- beth, daughter of Judge David Hooper, of Wayne County. There have been four children, two sons and two daugh- ters. One son, Henry L., alone survives.

UGH, WILLIAM ARNOLD, M. D., of Rush- ville, is one of the few Americans, so migratory is the race, who make a permanent home in their native town. He was born at Rushville, Indiana, March 7, 1829. His father, Reu Pugh, belonged to an influential family in Ohio, and was an uncle of George E. Pugh, United States Senator from that state. IIq was prominent in the early history of Rush County, and the principal business man of its capital. His mother, Catharine Arnold, was born on the Isle of Wight, Eng- land, of a noble family, whose coat-of-arms is preserved in the heraldic records at London, and whose mansion, centuries old, still looks out upon the English channel. Her father, Isaac Arnold, was one of the earliest set- tlers of Rush County, and one of its ablest citizens. After attendance at the common schools of Rushville,

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William Pugh was prepared for a collegiate course by his step-father, Rev. D. M. Stewart (see sketch and en- graving), and he entered Hanover College, Indiana, in 1842. The following year he went to Miami Univer- sity, there remained three years ; then changed to Jeffer- son College, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1848. He ascribes the directing of his education and the forming of his literary tastes to his step-father. Soon after thus completing this foundation upon which he was to rear the fine superstructure of his professional career, Mr. Pugh entered the Cleveland Medical Col- lege, where he took one course of lectures during the winter of 1849-50. He was influenced to choose the profession of medicine through his esteem and admira- tion for his two uncles by marriage, Doctors H. G. Sex- ton and Jefferson Helm (whose biographies may be found elsewhere in this volume), who also gave him personal encouragement to that end. On returning from Cleveland he continued his studies in the office of Doc- tors H. G. Sexton and Marshal Sexton, his son, at Rushville, and took a second course of lectures at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, where he graduated in the spring of 1851. He then located in Shelbyville, Indiana, and remained there two years. Subjecting in this early part of his career the theories of the schools to the test of experience, and subordinating them to his own judgment, Doctor Pugh developed an individuality and force that were an assurance of future distinction. At the close of that period he returned to Rushville. There his youth had been spent under such training as to fix his character for morality and integrity with the people, and when he solicited their patronage as a phy- sician they had no misgivings. Yet confidence in the man does not imply immediate confidence in the phy- sician, and, having to compete with men of high standing in the profession, he had to bide his time, which finally came, bringing the gratifying results of patient effort in the reputation he now enjoys. The Doctor is one of those who, in 1856, founded the Rush Medical Society, was subsequently its secretary for three years, and at length was elected president. In 1874 he was chosen president of the Union District Medical Society, and he is a member of the Indiana State Medical Society, and of the American Medical Society. Being a man of lit- erary tastes and culture, he has lent his influence and personal aid to advance the cause of education. For twelve years he was a member of the school board, and was acting in this capacity when the new school building was conceived and erected. He was prominent in or- ganizing the present graded schools, and delivered an address at the opening in 1869. In his religious con- victions Doctor Pugh is a Presbyterian, which Church he joined in 1849, under the preaching of Rev. L. D. Potter, D. D., now president of Glendale Female Col- lege. In 1851, in Shelbyville, he was elected a deacon,

and three years afterward, in Rushville, a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, which office he still holds. His early manhood did honor to the careful training of his excellent Christian mother, and gave strong hope of the usefulness of the fully developed man. He set out with the established character of a Christian gentleman, which his whole subsequent life has amply illustrated. Doctor Pugh joined the Republican party in its first campaign, and has always adhered to its principles; but has never been the recipient of its gifts, excepting as the coroner of Rush County for ten or twelve years. In that position he showed a fitness for official life by discharging his duties in the most satisfactory manner. His marriage occurred in May, 1851, when he was wedded to Miss Nancy Ann, daughter of Hon. Finley Bigger, and niece of Governor Samuel Bigger. (See sketches.) He has two children : Kate W., a graduate of Oxford Female College; and Finley B., who grad- uated from the Department of Pharmacy in the Univer- sity of Michigan. As a general practitioner, Doctor Pugh ranks high, and in obstetrics, to which his study and practice have specially led him, he is regarded as authority. Combining in this important branch the necessary firmness with superior skill and knowledge, he enjoys a large practice, and for years has been ap- pealed to for counsel. He is regarded as a fine scholar. Of the writers for the Rush Medical Society and the Indiana State Medical Society, he is among the first. He is ready in debate, and, but for that diffidence said to be characteristic of the profession, would excel as an orator. He is humane, never withholding his services from the poorest and humblest, and his unremitting and unrewarded efforts in behalf of the suffering should give him rank in a profession eminently benevolent. He has the unbounded respect of the people as a man, and their grateful confidence as a physician.

ATLIFF, CORNELIUS, SENIOR, farmer, was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, Decem- ber 25, 1798. He was the son of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Charles) Ratliff. His great-grandfather came from England with William Penn, and was pres- ent when that famous treaty was made with the Indians. His father was born in Pennsylvania, and removed with his parents to North Carolina. When of age he there received as his patrimony two slave girls; but, being conscientiously opposed to slavery, he at once liberated them. The following is a copy of one of the papers then executed for that purpose :

"STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, August Term, 1800. Randolph County.

"On the petition of Cornelius Ratliff to emancipate a certain female negro slave, by the name of Patience,

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the property of the aforesaid Cornelius Ratliff, it is con- sidered, adjudged, and ordered by the court that the aforesaid negro slave Patience, of the age of twenty-five years, be liberated and set free; and that she be per- mitted henceforth to enjoy all the privileges of free persons of her color."

Then follows the certificate of the county clerk. A few years after this noble act he emigrated from the state where human beings were bought and sold to one where its evils were never known, and arrived with his family in what was then called the Whitewater coun- try, and located on a piece of land one mile north-west of where Richmond now stands. This was in 1810, six years before that town was laid out, and Indiana be- came a state. That region was then inhabited by the Delaware, the Shawnee, and the Pottawatomie Indians. The last two tribes became hostile, and the whites in that vicinity all moved away except him. He and his family remained, feeling comparatively safe, for the leading chief had, as a legacy from one of his ancestors, a gift received from William Penn, the Indian's friend; and having learned that Mr. Ratliff was a Penn man, as he called him, he had promised him friendship and protection. The result was that, though he was the only settler remaining on that side of the river, and armed and painted savages were daily seen skulking through the forest, and the garrison in the government block-house near by were virtually besieged, he and his were unharmed-an illustration of the value of kindness and the lasting nature of the red man's regard. At his death his son Cornelius, the subject of this biography, inherited the farm, and has ever since re- sided upon it. On the 12th of June, 1822, he was married to Miss Mary Kindley, of Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio, granddaughter of John Rudolph Way- mire, who, before coming to this country, was one of the body-guard of the King of Hanover, which was all composed of men above six feet in height. Before leaving the realm it was necessary to obtain a passport from the sovereign. This was refused, and when he persisted he was imprisoned for a fortnight. On being released he said, "Now I will go," for which he was again incarcerated the same length of time. Prudence restrained further remarks; but at last that Teutonic Pha- raoh granted him a passport, and he came to the United States, and located in Pennsylvania; and his descend- ants are now very numerous. Mrs. Mary Ratliff was a type of pioneer womanhood. With a willing heart she entered with her husband upon life's journey, determined to succeed. Being blessed with a healthy physical or- ganization, she has done an amount of work from that day to this that would seem incredible to one unac- quainted with pioneer life. For about twenty years in succession, she spun and wove for herself, and wove for others, about three hundred yards of fabric each year, consisting of carpets, linsey, flannel, linen, etc. In

the making of linen she has pulled the flax (it was not cut in those days), helped to break, hackle, and scutch it, spun and wove it, and bleached the linen. To weave ten yards of linen per day, and do her house-work, was a task she often performed. No woman in the county has had a greater reputation for making choice butter than she, fifty pounds per week being not an unusual product of her dairy. Few men in Eastern Indiana have done more to develop and improve the country than has Cor- nelius Ratliff. He has assisted in every laudable enter- prise, contributing liberally toward the various improve- ments which have made the county what it is. In 1822 he commenced the nursery business. Though small at first, his catalogue soon embraced the leading varieties of fruits, and, continuing this occupation more than thirty years, he furnished very many men with what are now fine orchards. Farming has been the business of his life, and in its pursuit he has been very successful, having acquired an ample competence. In politics, he was an active Whig, and has been an earnest Republi- can ever since the organization of that party. He was strongly opposed to slavery, and though his house was not a station on the "Underground Railroad," trains have stopped there. In religious matters, Cornelius Ratliff has always been a Friend, having had a birth- right in that society. He has been an active member, and filled many of its most important positions. He was clerk of the Whitewater monthly meeting about twenty successive years. For more than a generation his house has been the home of Friends coming from a distance to the Yearly Meeting. These Yearly Meetings last about one week, and at such times it is no uncommon occur- rence for fifty persons to stay at his house over night, and partake of his hospitality through the whole week. He has been, and still is, consistent in carrying out the principles of the Friends in plainness of dress and ad- dress. For fifty years, when well and at home, he has not failed to join with his brethren in a religious ca- pacity; and, in attending meetings in Richmond and elsewhere, has traveled not less than twenty thousand miles. Though nearly fourscore years of age, yet he retains his faculties, both physical and mental, to a re- markable degree, and the amount of work he performs is surprising. He has lived on his farm continuously nearly sixty-eight years, and thus has seen that region improved from a wilderness to its present highly culti- vated state, and noted the progress made in the arts, especially that of agriculture. Once he cut all his grain with a sickle, at the rate of one acre per day, threshed it slowly and laboriously with a flail, cleaned it with a sheet drawn over a bush in the shape of a fan, and when he took his grist to the mill turned the bolting-cloth himself by hand. Now he employs a man to ride through his fields on something like an ancient chariot of war, which reaps eighteen acres per day; the

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grain is threshed and cleaned by steam-power, and the flour is bolted by the Hexall machine, that turns out one hundred barrels in twelve hours. So virtuous and peaceful has been the life of Cornelius Ratliff that it may be truthfully said of him that his age

" Melts in unperceived decay,

And glides in modest innocence away."

ATLIFF, JOSEPH C., son of Cornelius and Mary (Kindley) Ratliff, was born near Richmond, Indi- ana, July 6, 1827. During boyhood he attended the common school each winter term, and helped his father through the summer on the farm and nursery. The primary schools of that region were then called " loud schools," from the singular manner of studying then in vogue. The pupils were directed by the teacher to con their lessons, not in silence, but in the loudest possible tones. The effect may be better imagined than described-a Babel of voices of every quality, pitch, rate, and force, a scene that would drive a modern in- structor mad. At the close of a half hour the presid- ing genius of this pandemonium would shout, with the voice of a stentor, "Silence !" Comparative quiet would result, followed by this or a similar mandate, " Big boys, come and read !" During every recitation the remainder of the school were at liberty to employ the time in any way, if not too disorderly, that ingeni- ous mischief might suggest. The studies were the same then as now, excepting geography and grammar, the former being considered of little or no value, and the latter an almost unattainable height of knowledge. The text-books were by English authors, and hence the arithmetic contained no problems in United States cur- rency. The whole system was modeled after that of North Carolina, from whence most of the first settlers came, and it was better adapted for the development of vocal than mental power, and incited more love of noise than of knowledge. The school-house was built of logs, the floor and seats of slabs, the chimney and fire-place of mud and sticks, and the latter struc- ture sometimes fell crashing down among the noisy urchins, "making confusion worse confounded." But when it stood intact the fire was not sufficient to beat back the cold that swept through many a crevice, so the big boys were required to keep fires burning outside, and to fill a large kettle with the coals thus obtained, and place it in the center of the room. The only win- dow, if it deserved the name, was made in the rear of the building by cutting out a middle section of one of the logs and fixing panes of glass in the opening. A board was fastened against the log beneath to serve as a writing desk, for the window admitted so little light that, in writing, the pupils sat near it, a few at

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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 81

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