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 92

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 92

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AYLISS, REV. JEREMIAH H., D. D., of Indi- anapolis, was born in Wednesbury, England, De- cember 20, 1835. He was the son of Samuel and Priscilla (Smith) Bayliss. His parents emigrated from England to America in 1837, and located in Troy, New York. In 1841 they removed to Wyoming County. In 1853 the subject of this sketch became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Wales, Erie County, New York, and in 1854 was there licensed as an ex- horter. In 1856, at the age of twenty-one, having in the mean time removed to Aurora, Erie County, he was licensed as a local preacher. In 1857 he was received on probation in the Genesee Conference; and in 1859 he was received into full connection, and ordained to the office of deacon by Bishop Simpson, at Brockport, New York. In 1861 he was ordained to the office of elder, at Albion, New York, by Bishop Edward R. Ames. He attended school every year from four years of age until twenty-one, in public or select school, sem- inary or college, the last-named at Lima, New York, in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and Genesee College. He received the degree of A. M. from this college in 1868, and the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Ohio Wesleyan University in 1874. For nine years he was a member of Genesee Conference; was transferred to the Rock River Conference, Illinois, and stationed at Park Avenue Church, Chicago, for three years; and afterwards at Trinity charge, in the same city, for two years. The Chicago fire occurred in 1871, and as one of the results of that catastrophe Doctor Bayliss was transferred to Indianapolis, and stationed at Roberts Park Church for three years. The ensuing three years he was at Trinity, Indianapolis; and at the present writing is again at Roberts Park. He was thus at Chicago for five consecutive years, and, to date, eight years in Indianapolis. Doctor Bayliss was married to Miss Sarah A. Britton, at Boston, Erie County, New York, September 28, 1859. This union has been blessed with two sons and three daughters. As a writer for newspapers and periodicals, his services are greatly in demand, and his publications in this direction have been numerous, and would, if put into proper shape, make at least half a dozen volumes of five hundred pages each, duodecimo. Scores of his sermons have been reproduced in the columns of the leading dailies of Chicago and Indianapolis. His sermon on the death of the sister of Senator Twitchell, of Louisiana, was ex- tensively copied by the Northern papers in every state, and millions of copies of it distributed in various forms. His funeral address at the burial of Senator O. P. Mor- ton was reported by the agents of the Associated Press, and generally published in the daily papers of the coun- try. The funeral sermon at the burial of General Canby was also extensively circulated. His writings for the secular and religious press have been voluminous for

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one not professionally connected with newspapers. Doc- tor Bayliss is aggressive in speech, and argues rather than persuades. He occupies a front rank among the ministers of his denomination, and ordinarily has crowded audiences to hear him. His language is well chosen, often eloquent, always forcible. He is characterized by great boldness in seizing upon and handling living topics; and every event of local or general importance, as affecting the social or moral life of the city or coun- try, is sure to be made a topic for a Sunday evening service, and held up in the light of God's Word for ap- proval or condemnation. His congregation are always on the alert for something new, and are seldom disap- pointed. Doctor Bayliss has that quality in him that makes men respect his opinion, however they may differ with him. His sermons are delivered from notes, but so carefully are they studied that they have all the effect of extemporaneous discourses. He visited Europe in the summer of 1878, and his lectures on his experience abroad are said to be very entertaining and instructive. He is a man of marked traits of character, and would have made his influence felt in whatever channel he might have chosen to direct his energies.

ARTHOLOMEW, PLINY WEBSTER, A. B., A. M., of Indianapolis, was born August 4, 1840, at Cabotville, Hampden County, Massachusetts. He is the son of Hon. H. Harris Bartholomew, now of Cambridge City, Wayne County, Indiana, who was a Whig Representative in the Massachusetts Legislature of 1850, from the Hampshire District. His mother, whose maiden name was Betsey Moore, died when the subject of this sketch was six years old. For his second wife his father married Deborah S. Coleman, of Buck- land, Massachusetts, a woman of great talent and noble character. Pliny is the third of twelve children. When fifteen years old his father failed in business, and the son was thrown upon his own energies for sup- port and education. By hard study and economizing his earnings, he was enabled in 1861 to enter Union College, at Schenectady, New York, and graduated with the honors of his class in 1864. He then read law with J. S. Lamoreaux at Ballston Spa, New York, for two years, and was admitted to the Supreme Court of New York in May, 1865. He soon afterwards entered into partnership with J. S. Lamoreaux, Esq., at Ballston Spa, New York, and continued in practice there about eighteen months, when he came to Indianapolis, In- diana, and opened an office early in 1867. In 1868 he was made commissioner for New York and Connecticut in Indiana. Ile is a lover of his profession, and has a large civil legal business. He is naturally a jury law- yer, and his special talents are in cross-examination and

advocacy, backed by a thorough knowledge of his case. He is a Presbyterian in religious faith; a member of the Knights of Pythias, and Past District Deputy Grand Chancellor. He was one of the charter members of the Knights of Honor; the first Past Dictator; Past Grand Dictator, and representative to the Supreme Lodge from Indiana, and has been chairman of the law committee of the Supreme Lodge ever since. He is a leading Democrat of Indianapolis and Indiana, and one of the speakers of the party. In 1876 he wrote a detailed account of the nomination of Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, at St. Louis, for the Indianapolis daily Sentinel, of July 4, 1876, which was copied by many other papers. He married S. Belle Smith, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, January 30, 1873, who was the daughter of George W. Smith. She is a granddaughter of the late Joshua Cromwell, of Lexington, Kentucky, who was of the same family as Oliver Cromwell. They have one daughter, Isadora Belle. Mr. Bartholomew is now the law partner of Hon. E. C. Buskirk, ex-Crim- inal Judge, under the firm name of Buskirk & Barthol- omew, Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a man of medium stature, of pleasant and agreeable address, and courteous to all he meets. He has won a desirable position, both in business and social circles, and is esteemed not only for those attainments acquired by long and arduous , study, but also for those inherent and finer qualifica- tions that go to make up a true man and a gentleman.

EHARRELL, REV. THOMAS.G., LL.D., of Indianapolis, was born in Huntingdonshire, Eng- land, December 17, 1824. His parents emigrated to America in 1837, and settled in Evansville, In- diana. His father, Rev. H. Beharrell, began his min- istry in the Wesleyan Church when quite young, and continued it until his death, which occurred in 1874. For many years he resided in New Albany, Indiana, as a local minister. His mother, an educated lady, was a licensed preacher, subject to the rules and regulations governing the ministry of the Wesleyan Church. Doc- tor Beharrell had no early advantages, but he had an ardent desire for knowledge, which led him in early life to study diligently in the common schools, and two years in a select school in the city of New Albany, under the care of William Harrison, a graduate of Augusta Col- lege, Kentucky. He spent nearly two years in reading text-books in medicine, with a view to becoming a phy- sician, but his attention was turned toward the ministry as a profession, and after securing a certificate from his preceptor for teaching he opened a school in Moores- ville, Floyd County, Indiana, and at the same time was earnestly engaged in fitting himself for the ministry, and in his twenty-second year entered the Indiana An-

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nual Conference, of which he has been an honored mem- ber ever since. For thirty-two years he has been engaged in the ministry in Southern Indiana, and has been pas- tor of Churches in Shelbyville, Madison, Jeffersonville, and other cities, and is now pastor of a Church in the city of Indianapolis. While pastor of the Church at Moore's Hill, Dearborn County, on the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Railroad, forty-five miles west of Cincinnati, he took an active part in founding and establishing a seat of learning known as Moore's Hill Male and Female Collegiate Institute, an institution which has been an honor to the colleges of Indiana for the last twenty years. He assisted in procuring the stock, and after- ward in securing its transfer to the South-east Indi- ana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He accepted the position of agent until the institution had begun. He was married, in Indianapolis, Septem- ber 15, 1849, to Miss Sarah Ellen Hughes, daughter of Nixon Hughes, Esq., formerly of Kentucky, and related to two extensive and honored families in Henry and Trimble Counties; one the Buchanan family, and the other the Robbins family. They were the descendants of Revolutionary soldiers, and of those engaged in the War of 1812. He turned his attention in early life to the use of the pen, and for twenty-five years has been a contributor to various periodicals, some of which have had wide circulation; and his efforts in this direc- tion have given him a good degree of celebrity as a writer, and have materially strengthened the periodicals to which he has contributed. In the year 1860 the In- diana Asbury University conferred upon him the hon- orary degree of A. M., which title has been borne by him and attached to his productions for the press until 1877, when the Indiana State University made him an LL. D. He became a member of the fraternal organ- ization known as the Independent Order of Odd-fellows in 1856, and has attained eminence there, having filled important offices in the grand bodies, and for two years represented the jurisdiction of Indiana in the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd-fellows, the supreme legislative head of the order; and he has been for several years the Historiographer of the Grand Lodge of Independent Order of Odd-fellows of Indiana. He

has been for seven years the associate editor of the Tal- isman, a monthly periodical of that fraternity pub- lished at Indianapolis, and an organ of the order. became the author of a text-book of Odd-fellowship in 1860, entitled the " Brotherhood," which attained a circulation of twenty-five thousand copies. It has been supplanted by a larger work, entitled the "Monitor and Guide." This is a production of his riper years and experience, and is being sold as a subscription book, and the sale of it promises to be very extensive. He is also the author of a very popular "Bible Bi- ographical Dictionary," containing six hundred and

twenty pages octavo, double column, brevier type, which cost him the labor of three years. Several thousand copies have already been sold, and it is now being vig- orously circulated by a popular subscription book com- pany in the city of Indianapolis. It is a very valuable reference and reading book for theological students and for all Bible readers, and is indorsed and recommended by eminent men of all denominations. He has just pre- pared, and has ready for publication, a large octavo book, " History of Odd-fellowship in Indiana." He was em- ployed by the Grand Lodge of Indiana in 1875 to pre- pare this work, and its publication is ordered, and will be executed as soon as practicable. The work will contain a complete history of the order in Indiana, and will be seven hundred royal octavo pages. Doctor Be- harrell is now editing and publishing for the author (a lady of ability as a writer) the " Odd-fellow's Orphan." The book is being executed in an attractive style, and will, it is hoped, secure a large sale in the trade, to which it will be committed. He is widely known as a minister, as an author, and as an earnest worker in the effective fraternal organizations of the country. Besides being a Past Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd-fellows, he has been from early life an effective temperance advocate and worker. His first adventure in public speaking was under the Washingtonian movement. He became a member early in life of the Sons of Temperance, and attained eminence in that order as presiding officer of the grand division of the state of Indiana; and he rep- resented this state two years in succession in the Na- tional Division-one year at Philadelphia, and the other at Portland, Maine. He was one. of the organ- izers of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars in Indiana, and served in grand offices several times, but has wrought faithfully in subordinate lodges, and his in- fluence has been of great benefit to temperance workers in all communities where he has resided. He has been a member and worker in the Temple of Honor. Mr. Beharrell has for more than twenty years been an ardent Mason, having connected himself with the Blue Lodge at Moore's Hill, Dearborn County, and received the Master's degree there. He became a member of King David Chapter in Rising Sun, Indiana, and was exalted to the Sublime degree of a Royal Arch Mason a year after receiving the degree of Master Mason. About one year after receiving the degree of Royal Arch Mason, he reached the degree of Royal and Select Master in the Council at Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana. Eighteen years ago he was admitted to membership in the Commandlery at New Albany, Indiana. The de-

grees of the Order of the Red Cross and Knights Tem- plar were conferred upon him during a session of the Grand Commandery then being held there. He has fa- miliarized himself with the work in the higher depart-

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ments of Masonry, and has been in demand as a worker in many Chapter Councils and Commanderies. His present membership in all these bodies is at Vincennes, Knox County.

ELL, WILLIAM ALLEN, was born January 30, 1833, near Jefferson, Clinton County, Indiana. His father moved to Michigantown, in the same county, when he was six years old, and this place and vicinity continued to be his home until he was twenty years old. His early education was such as the common schools afforded. He taught for the first time the winter he was eighteen years old, and received as compensation sixty dollars for a term of sixty-five days, out of which sum he paid his board. In 1853 he en- tered the preparatory department of Antioch College, Ohio, which was at that time under the charge of Horace Mann. Three years were spent here in the preparatory department, and four more in the regular college course, at the end of which he graduated. He very largely paid his own way while at college. During the three years spent in the preparatory depart- ment, he sawed wood, dug cellars, rang the college bell, etc .; and in the four years spent in the regular college course, one term in the freshman and one term in the sophomore year were spent in teaching country schools, and one term in the junior year was sacrificed to the selling of fruit trees. This lost time was made up by extraordinary diligence. Immediately after graduation, in 1860, he went to Mississippi to teach, but the break- ing out of the Rebellion caused him to return before the close of the year. In 1861 he was elected principal of the schools at Williamsburg, Wayne County, Indi- ana, where he met with excellent success. He left Will- iamsburg, to accept the principalship of the Second Ward school in Indianapolis, in 1863. In 1864 the present Indianapolis high school was organized, and Mr. Bell was made its principal. The following year he superintended the Richmond (Indiana) schools, but in the fall of 1866 returned and again took charge of the Indianapolis high school, at an increased salary. He remained at the head of this until the close of the scholastic year in 1871. From 1867 to 1871 he was also school examiner of Marion County. The summer of 1870 was spent in a tour to and about Europe. He was married to Eliza C. Cannell, July 20, 1871. Miss Cannell was born in Waterford, New York, and for the five years previous to their marriage had been his first assistant in the high school. In August, 1871, he be- came editor and sole proprietor of the Indiana School Journal, and since that date has given his entire time to its interests. He has greatly improved its character, increased its size, and largely extended its circulation. He makes the Journal a power for good in the state,

and Indiana teachers have reason to be proud of it. In 1873 Mr. Bell was president of the Indiana State Teachers' Association. He has been a member of the Indianapolis school board since 1873, and is at this time (1880) its president. For the past five years he has spent much time in traveling over the state working in teachers' institutes and lecturing upon education. Mr. Bell's chief characteristics are sincerity, earnestness, and force. With these he unites a pleasing address, and thus is a man who makes and keeps friends. No man in the state has a wider acquaintance among school men or is more universally respected by them than he. For many years his services have been in constant demand at teachers' institutes. As a lecturer, he is forcible and practical, and always commands attention. His large and varied experience makes him an able worker and a valuable instructor of teachers. He is acknowledged to be one of the most prominent leaders in educational matters in Indiana. He has through his journal and in other ways exerted an influence upon school legisla- tion and upon the schools of the state that will be felt for many years to come.

LESSING, JOHN, of Shelbyville, was born in Middletown Valley, Frederick County, Maryland, March 3, 1828. His father, John Blessing, was a native of Virginia, of German descent; his mother, Mary (Keserling) Blessing, was born in Mary- land, her parents coming from Pennsylvania. When John was in his infancy his father died. His mother soon married again, and kept him with her until he had become nine years old. At this tender age he left home, and engaged with a neighbor to work for his board and instruction, his attendance at school being limited to the winter terms. When eighteen he was induced by an acquaintance from Ohio to remove to that state, hoping to secure better wages. His first em- ployment was in the distillery of Neddy Smith, near Dayton, where he worked two months, then became en- gaged in a distillery below Dayton, in the village of Alexandersville, in which he remained until January, 1848. There being a recruiting office at Dayton, he then enlisted as a private soldier for service during the War with Mexico. He was mustered into the regular army at Newport Barracks, February II, 1848, and was transported with his regiment to Vera Cruz. As hostili- ties were nearly over, they were held at that city for several' weeks, and on marching being resumed news reached them that peace was declared. They were then at Jalapa, and here he was taken sick and confined to the hospital, recovering so as to return with his regi- ment to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, where they were discharged August, 1848. He went back to Alexanders-

yours truly Nelson Bradley

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ville, and, having given good satisfaction previously, was readily given a place in Dryden's distillery, where he remained until the winter of 1850. Soon after this, on Christmas Eve, 1851, he was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Oty, a native of Montgomery County, Ohio. Then, impelled by new hopes and aspirations, he in- vested the hard-earned results of his labor in the busi- ness of tobacco-raising and general farming. In 1853 he turned his attention from this to the management of a canal boat plying between Cincinnati and Toledo. But he had gained so much skill as a distiller that, in 1854, his services were required to take charge of his for- mer employer's distillery at Alexandersville, and also one for A. L. Charles, at Amanda, near Middletown. Three years later he retired from this situation and en- gaged in conducting an establishment of the same kind for J. W. Turner and Joseph Hughes, on the Stillwater. A year after he formed a partnership with these gentle- men and rented another place, at Little York, but in six months it was sold at assignee's sale, Messrs. Blessing and Hughes becoming the purchasers. They remained in copartnership, under the firm name of Blessing & Hughes, until the death of the latter, in 1859. From that time until 1861 the firm was known as Blessing & Yount, when the former sold his interest to his partner, and in the fall of the following year removed to Dayton, and during the ensuing winter engaged in the pork- packing trade. In April, 1863, he bought the Shelby- ville distillery, and in August of that year moved his family to that place. The business was successfully conducted first by Blessing & Andrews, soon suc- ceeded by Blessing & Dodds, who remained in busi- ness until 1867, when the firm was again changed to Blessing & Saylor, continuing thus until 1868, when Mr. Blessing retired from the firm. Possessing superior abilities for the management of various busi- ness interests, he not only superintended the distillery, but entered into other important relations. In 1864 he bought stock in the banking firm of Elliott & Co., with which he was identified until 1865, when it was merged into the First National Bank, he becoming one of its directors. He also entered into the hardware and agri- cultural implement trade in Shelbyville, for three years, from 1866 to 1869, and during a portion of this time was connected with the dry-goods firm of Elliott & Co., Indianapolis. He has also been occupied in the buying and selling of grain. In addition to these extensive operations he has been one of the foremost in beautify- ing the city by the erection of fine buildings. In 1869 he commenced, and in 1870 completed, Blessing's Opera-house, which for internal finish and arrangement is not exceeded by any similar edifice in the state. In 1869, in partnership with S. J. Saylor, he bought what was then known as the Ray House, which they remod- eled and improved, changing its name to the Jackson !

House. In 1864 he built his present brick residence. He has thus added to the value of the real estate, and increased the attractiveness of Shelbyville, and has made it readily accessible from all parts of the state by encouraging the building of turnpikes and railroads. From 1873 to 1875 he served the city as a member of its board of aldermen. In 1870 he sought recreation by taking a tour to California, and has since gratified his taste for mountain scenery by spending four sum- mers in Colorado. Mr. Blessing's opinions on the great political questions were based on the platform of the Democratic party until 1861, when, in the general dis- ruption of party ties occasioned by the war, he became a Republican, and on that ticket was a candidate for the office of county commissioner in 1864, and again in 1866 for that of Representative in the Legislature. Though he was defeated at both elections, his party be- ing in the minority in that county, he was shown to be very popular by the fact that he ran ahead of his ticket some two or three hundred votes each time. Mr. Bless- ing has had four children; three daughters survive. Their mother died February 25, 1875. Becoming de- pendent when a mere child upon his own exertions, Mr. Blessing, with characteristic strength, persistence, and integrity of purpose, has made his way upward, over every obstacle, to his present position of wealth and influence. Soon after he located in Shelbyville he made himself felt in business circles, and as he gradually ex- tended his operations he imparted new life to trade and manufactures. This has been achieved only by abilities of a high order. His faculties have been developed and matured, not by scholastic training, but by inter- course with the world through business and travel; and he is justly regarded as one of the ablest self-made men of that part of the state.

RADLEY, NELSON, banker, of Greenfield, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, May 19, 1822. His parents were William and Mary Bradley, the former a native of London, England, emigrating to this country in 1797. He located in Clermont County, Ohio, where he taught school for several years, but subsequently engaged in farming. During the War of 1812 he joined the American army, and served with honor till the close of that contest. Nelson Bradley, the subject of this sketch, is eminently a self-made man. His opportunities for acquiring an education in early life were very limited. His time was chiefly employed in assisting his father on the farm, and his schooling was restricted to a few months' attendance at the log school-house of the pioneer settlement. He managed, however, through that firmness of purpose and energy of character which have been a prominent quality of

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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 92

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