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 II, Part 101

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006

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 II > Part 101

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family and a large circle of friends. Doctor William C. Weicht, in early boyhood, had the benefit of a good school until eleven years of age, when he came with his father's family to America, which, with the excep- tion of three months' instruction in Newark, New Jersey, closed his school-going days. But, being nat- urally of an inquiring mind and of an observing nature, he had even then acquired a large stock of knowledge. At the age of fourteen years he was apprenticed to the carriage-painting trade, at which he served three years, and afterwards learned the business of wheelwright, which he subsequently followed as a journeyman for three years. In 1839 he began reading medicine under the instruction of his father, pursuing the business of painting at the same time in Angola from 1845 until 1864. Since that time he has given his undivided at- tention to the practice of his profession, with a con- stantly growing success and increasing popularity. He is now in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative prac- tice. Notwithstanding the prejudice of many against homœopathy, he has won and retained for himself not only the confidence of the public, but the respect of other physicians not of his school. In surgery the Doctor has ever been successful. He is familiar with anatomy and is a skillful operator, but in country life calls of this nature are few. His chief merit lies in his ability in the practice of medicine. His sympathetic nature and kind heart give assurance to the sick that he will do every thing possible for them, and his manner cheers their spirits. The Doctor is an excellent family physician. In politics Doctor Weicht is a sturdy Democrat, unyielding and uncom- promising. He was the first efficient township clerk of Salem. He opened, arranged, and systematized the records, which were at the time he took the office all contained on three sheets of foolscap paper. In 1856 he was elected Justice of the Peace, and re-elected in 1860, serving eight years in that place. The admin- istration during his terms was marked for its ability, integrity, and judicious management. He also served the people as town clerk of Angola for three years. He is regarded as an enterprising and useful citizen, favoring any thing tending to better the condition and advance the prosperity of his town and county. The Doctor is a worthy member of the Odd-fellows' Frater- nity, and an active advocate and sympathizer with the work of temperance reform. In religious matters he may be regarded as somewhat of a liberal thinker. But the Doctor is a contributor to, and an attendant upon, orthodox Churches, his wife being a member of the Presbyterian organization. He was married, July 24, 1845, to Miss Elizabeth Neubauer, of Angola, Steuben County, Indiana. She is a lady of endowments and culture, possessing many engaging traits of charac- ter. They have had six children, three sons and three

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daughters, of whom two only survive: Frederick L., born June 23, 1846, died October 1, 1857; Sophia L., born February 28, 1848, died December 4, 1859; Salo- nia, born October 19, 1850, who is a lady of personal attraction and endowments, deputy postmistress at An- gola; Hannah M., born December 28, 1858; and Albert F. and Alfred F. (twins), born May 10, 1862. The former died August II, and the latter August 24, 1862. Doctor Weicht has been dependent entirely upon self-effort, and the distinction he has achieved is due to his energy, application, and industry.

EIR, ELIJAH W., a retired farmer and prom- inent citizen, of Lagrange, Indiana, was born March 12, 1813, in Washington County, New York, and is the oldest son of Samuel and Sarah (Woods) Weir, also natives of that county. They were farmers by occupation. Elijah's grandfather, Mr. Woods, participated in the Revolutionary War, and at the battle of Bennington was orderly-sergeant in the command of General Stark. At the time the British army, under General Burgoyne, descended from the north, his line of march was through the town where Mr. Weir, his other grandfather, had located, then a wilderness. The approach of the invading army, and of the Indians, caused a panic among the scattering inhabitants, and they fled to the nearest military post, at Bennington, Vermont, a distance of thirty miles. Among them was Mrs. Weir, carrying her only child in her arms. Samuel, father of Elijah, was a soldier in the War of 1812 with England, and served as a captain. After the close of the war he moved with his fam- ily from Washington to Schoharie County, New York, where he settled in 1816 on a new tract of land, which he cleared and tilled until 1829, when he died, leaving a widow and six children, of whom our subject, a lad of sixteen years, was the oldest. During the life-time of his father he had the advantage of the common schools, and had acquired a knowledge of the English branches sufficient for ordinary purposes. He remained with his mother in charge of the farm until 1835, when he came to Indiana and located a tract of one hundred and twenty acres of wild land five miles from what is now Lagrange city, his mother and family joining him the following year. He soon after sold his place to her and took up eighty acres in the town of Milford, which he set about clearing and improving. He subsequently added to his grounds, making an acreage of two hun- dred and ninety, and remained an active and represent- ative citizen and farmer until 1852, when he was elected the county treasurer of Lagrange. He rented his farm and removed to the city, devoting his time to the duties of his office, which he held for a second term. Although

new in the work of official life, his administration was marked for its correct and efficient management, win- ning for himself the respect and commendation of both his political friends and opponents. He retained his res- idence in the village after the close of official life, work- ing his farm through tenants and occupying his own time by a general oversight. He subsequently sold his farm in Milford, and purchased a small tract of land just out of the village of Lagrange, which he amuses himself by tilling, and to some extent engages in the raising and improving of stock, and looking after his property. In 1864, as silent partner with his son John, he engaged in the hardware business, retiring in 1873. In 1865 Mr. Weir, with others, organized the First National Bank of Lima, Indiana, of which he was a stockholder and director. It was closed in 1878 by sur- rendering the charter and recalling the circulation. He was also one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Lagrange, of which he is also a stockholder and director. In his farming and business enterprises, he has been eminently successful, having acquired an ample fortune. He has shown good judgment in mat- ters of business. His is a fine example of the success of thoroughly sound and correct business principles. Mr. Weir was educated in the old Democratic school of politics, and adhered to that party until 1854, when, in consequence of the repeal of the Missouri Compro- mise by Mr. Douglas, he allied himself to the opposi- tion, which, in Indiana, culminated in 1856 in the or- ganization of the Republican party, of which he has since been an active and influential member. He has not cared to engage in that ignoble strife for office which has been the bane and curse of our institutions, but has not refused to obey the call of his fellow-citi- zens when they have asked him to serve the public officially. In 1876 he was elected by the Republican party to represent his district, comprising the counties of Lagrange and Noble, in the state Senate. In the sessions of 1877 he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and a member of the Committee on Swamp Lands; and in the sessions of 1879 he was a member of the Committees on Agriculture, Rights and Privileges, and on Roads. He interested himself in an act for the re- peal of the cash poll-tax law. It was favorably re- ported by the Finance Committee, but failed in the Senate. In the discharge of his duties as a Senator, he was attentive, industrious, and conscientious. In relig- ion Mr. Weir is unorthodox. In all the relations of business, he is just and upright, and commands the confidence and esteem of the community in which he lives. May 15, 1836, he was married to Miss Amy A. Hern, of Lagrange, who died July 6, 1847, leaving three children, two of whom survive. In 1849 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Savillia Rice, of La- grange. She died in March, 1855, leaving one daugh-

E .

J.L.WILLIAMS.

4. L. Michiamo

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ter. He was again married in 1855, to Mrs. Abigail Cowley, of Greene County, New York, by whom he has one daughter.

ILLIAMS, JESSE L., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, youngest son of Jesse and Sarah (Terrell) Williams, was born in Stokes County, North Carolina, May 6, 1807. His father removed in 1814 to Ohio, and settled first at Cincinnati, which then contained only six thousand inhabitants; he afterward went to Warren County, near Lebanon. In 1820 the family moved to a farm near Richmond, Indiana. Mr. Williams attended for a time the Lancasterian Seminary, at Cincinnati ; his youth, however, was mostly devoted to farm work, which so strengthened his constitution as to enable him afterward to endure the severe labor of his active professional life. His knowledge of such higher branches as were essential to his profession was obtained in connection with actual practice in the field. In 1824 Ohio took upon herself the task of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio River. Under his chief en- gineer, Samuel Forrer, Mr. Williams engaged in the first survey of the Miami and Erie Canal, projected from Cin- cinnati to the Maumee Bay. He procured the position , and in buying and shipping flour and produce. In 1847 of rodman, with a salary of nine dollars a month. By careful study he advanced rapidly, and soon obtained the position of assistant engineer. In that capacity he had charge of the division next Cincinnati, one of the most difficult of the whole route. In the latter half of 1827 he had almost entire charge from Cincinnati to Day- ton. Having proved his capacity in this position, he was appointed, at the age of twenty-one years, by the state en- gineer of Ohio, David S. Bates, to take charge of the final location of the canal from Licking Summit, near Newark, to Chillicothe, including the Columbus feeder. The line having been located and placed under contract, he next undertook the construction of that portion extend- ing from Circleville to Chillicothe ; and the difficult task of building a dam and aqueduct across the Scioto River. In 1830 he was a member of a board of engineers ap- pointed to determine the important question as to the best method of supplying the Summit level of the Miami and Erie Canal. When Indiana began her part in the development of the canal system, by undertaking the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal, Mr. Williams, whose record had attracted attention, was ap- pointed chief engineer. In the session of 1835 the Leg- islature ordered surveys to be made in all parts of the state, for the purpose of ascertaining practicable routes for canals. The entire work went on under Mr. Williams's supervision; and during that spring and summer more than five hundred miles of canal lines were definitely located, and estimates embodied in a report made to 1

authorizing a general system of internal improvements ; and under this act Mr. Williams was appointed chief engineer, with the charge of all the canal lines in the state. The aggregate of these lines was about eight hundred miles; some were in process of construction, and some were yet to be defi- nitely located and surveyed. In September, 1837, Mr. Williams assumed, in addition to his other engrossing responsibilities, the position of chief engineer of rail- roads and turnpikes. He had then under his charge thirteen hundred miles of public works. Not only the general principles of the surveys passed under his super- vision, but he was obliged to be present at every adver- tised public letting of contracts, and to supervise the same. During the summer of 1838 he traveled at least three thousand miles on horseback. He also became, by action of the Legislature, ex officio member of the Board of Internal Improvements, and acting commis- sioner of the Wabash and Erie Canal. In 1842 the credit of the state broke down under the heavy load which it was attempting to carry, and the public works were sus- pended. Mr. Williams now returned from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne; and, until 1847, engaged with the Hon. Allen Hamilton in building and operating the city mills, the state debt was re-adjusted, by an arrangement whereby the Wabash and Erie Canal was placed in the hands of a board of trustees, who operated it for the benefit of the state's creditors. The terms of this state-debt act required the appointment of a "chief engineer, of known and established character for experience and in- tegrity." This position was conferred upon Mr. Will- iams. In addition he became, in 1854, chief engineer of the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, and so con- tinued until the consolidation of that road with the Ohio and Pennsylvania and the Ohio and Indiana Railroads, whereby was formed the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chi- cago Railroad. He then became a director of this new corporation, and still retains this position. In 1864 Mr. Williams was appointed by President Lincoln one of the five government directors of the Union Pacific Railroad. HIe was reappointed yearly, by Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant, successively, until 1869. In this capacity his ex- perience enabled him to become of great service. He was a member of the standing committee on location and construction. His recognized ability gave him much influence with the engineer in charge of the work, and this materially aided in securing the first-class char- acter of the road. It was at his suggestion to the Secretary of the Interior, that a board, consisting of en- gineers and directors, was appointed, whose action determined the standard of construction for first-class roads, and fixed the general principles of location. June 13, 1868, Mr. Williams was instructed to examine

the government. The Legislature of 1836 passed an act , and report, specifically, the condition of the Union Pa-

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cific Railroad ; where constructed or surveyed. Accord- ingly, accompanied by the president of the road, he went by special train to the end of the track, six hun- dred and sixty miles west of the Missouri River, stopping to examine every station, bridge, or other structure; and thence proceeded on horseback, under protection of cavalry, four hundred miles farther to Salt Lake. His report of this inspection contributed much to the general knowledge of the country. It also called attention to some points in the construction of the road which were of great importance; particularly the ques- tion of maximum grade, which greatly affected the per- manent value of the road. The steepest grades were re- quired at the Black Hills and the Wahsatch Range; and, for the sake of speedy construction and saving in cost, the general manager insisted upon going to the limit of the grade allowed by law-one hundred and sixteen feet per mile. Mr. Williams earnestly remonstrated against this policy. He contended that from surveys made the grade need not, and therefore ought not, to exceed ninety feet per mile. As the final result of his efforts, the Secretary of the Interior appointed three skilled engineers to make an additional examination, to determine the best policy to be pursued. Upon their report, Mr. Williams's recom- mendation was adopted. In 1868 the government di- rectors were ordered to collect information from the official books and papers of the Union Pacific Railroad, from which might be ascertained the actual cost of the road. The cost, so far as shown by the books of the railroad company, was of course equivalent to the gross

stock and bonds issued, or about one hundred and nine thousand dollars per mile. The actual cost to the con- tracting company, which was the renowned Credit Mobilier-a corporation composed chiefly of stockhold- ers and directors of the Union Pacific Railroad, but dis- tinct in its incorporation-could not be ascertained from any papers to which the government directors could claim access. Mr. Williams, having carefully inspected every mile of the road, from the Missouri River to Salt Lake, was enabled, from his personal experience and knowledge of the cost of railroad construction, to state in detail, with reasonable accuracy, what the actual cash cost must have been. In his report of November, 1868, to the Secretary of the Interior, he estimated that the outside limit of necessary and probable actual cost of one thousand one hundred and ten miles, built by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, was thirty-five thousand dollars per mile. The great disparity between these fig- ures and the amount of resources known to be at the com- mand of the company-which, from the sale of their own honds and from the government subsidy, not including lands, amounted to from fifty-two to seventy-five million dollars-led Mr. Williams to urge the policy of holding back a portion of the government subsidy, as a reserve fund, for the purpose of future improvement of the

road. Owing to the desirability of speedy construc- tion, it was impossible that, when first completed, it should be in all respects such as the ample provision made by the government justified the people in expecting ; it was therefore proper that the entire subsidy should not be exhausted without such provision as would insure ultimate perfection in the road and its equipments. Although he failed to secure the adoption of this principle by the board, it was afterward made the basis of action by the government. In January, 1869, Mr. Williams was appointed, by the United States District Court for the District of Michigan, receiver of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. This corpo- ration had been organized twelve years before, for the purpose of constructing a road which should connect the Straits of Mackinaw and the pine region of North- ern Michigan with Fort Wayne and Northern and Cen- tral Indiana. A large land grant, valued at about seven million dollars, given by Congress to the state of Michigan, had been, by act of Legislature, set apart for the purpose of aiding the construction of a road which should open up such connection as the charter of this corpora- tion contemplated. Financial embarrassments had pre- vented the success of the enterprise, and only twenty miles of the' three hundred and twenty-five had been put in operation. The Legislature had repeatedly ex- tended the time for the completion; and by an act, at the session of 1868 and 1869, had finally made the en- tire grant conditional upon the completion of twenty additional miles by July 1, 1869. This gave only about

fifty days, after the yielding of the frost, in which to build that distance, through the dense woods and swamps. The immensity of the stake, as well as the interest felt by the people along the line, made the re- sponsibility a heavy one. An order of the court had authorized the receiver to pledge the road as the basis

of a loan ; and through the forecast of Eastern capital- ists-chiefly those in the Pennsylvania Railroad inter- est-and the efforts of the officers of the road, ample means were promptly secured with which to bring the work to speedy completion. Mr. Williams was also supervising engineer in active charge of the construction.

His rare executive as well as professional ability is well evinced by the fact that he was able to send, June 22, 1869, the following telegram : "To His Excellency the Governor of Michigan: The last rail of the twenty miles was laid this evening." He had saved by eight days the entire forfeiture of the land. By further order of the court, he was directed to go on and complete the remaining two hundred miles from Fort Wayne through

Michigan. In order to devote himself to this work, he re- signed, in October, 1869, his position as government di- rector of the Union Pacific Road. In one year from his resignation the valuable pineries of North-western Mich- igan were, by the completion of the road, opened to the

S.P. WILLIAMS

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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markets of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. One hundred may be found in the tenth annual report of the Indiana and sixty miles of track were laid, and the grading , State Geologist, who requested it for publication in a permanent documentary form, as part of his report for 1878. It was prefaced by the following paragraph : completed, between April and September, 1870. In June, 1871, he was selected as chief engineer to com- plete the Cincinnati, Richmond and Fort Wayne Road. This road formed the last connecting link, sixty miles in length, and opened, through the Grand Rapids and In- diana Railroad, a complete route from Cincinnati to the Muskegon pineries. This was one of his last public works; and, in 1876, by the sale of the Wabash and Erie Canal, his official connection with that work ceased. Mr. Williams's professional life had covered a period of fifty years. Beginning with the introduction of the canal system west of New York state, he has witnessed its growth, maturity, and decline. For twenty years past he has been intimately connected with the construc- tion of the most important railroads of the country. His energy at once secured him a prominence which his ability and integrity in the work committed to his charge justified and maintained. Probably few engi- neers of this century have been professionally connected with so much of the work of public improvement. His prominence is due to his industry and ability, without which all fortunate chances must have failed to secure him eminence. He married, November 15, 1831, Susan Creighton, daughter of William Creighton, of Chilli- cothe, Ohio, a member of Congress from that district, first during the War of 1812, and afterward in 1830. They have three sons now living. When Mr. Williams, in 1824, joined the engineering party on the sources of the Big Miami River, in the first surveys for the Miami and Erie Canal, little was known of the altitudes of the western regions relative to the sea level. Ohio was chiefly a wilderness. The fifty-five years which have since elapsed have been a period of wonderful material advancement. The engineer with his leveling instrument, and the track-layer following, have, within the last two decades, constructed railroads in every part of the Mississippi Valley, and thence across the Rocky Mountain barrier to the Pacific. Steam, that mighty force in human affairs, has, by means of the iron rail, displayed its wonderful efficiency on the land as well as on the water. Through the official reports of these surveys and levelings, and the mutual courtesies of engineers in charge of them, Mr. Williams has been able to collect and preserve for public use much topo- graphical information concerning the wide region be- tween the crest of the Alleghany Mountains and the Pacific coast. He has recently compiled and printed a statement giving altitudes of some seven hundred local- ities, selected, as most prominent and useful, from the numerous surveys for leading public works of this grand division of the country, including the five Pacific Rail- road routes-four within the United States and one ,

" Jesse L. Williams, of Fort Wayne, has, at my re- quest, presented for publication in this report an inter- esting collection of altitudes, gathered through a long professional career as civil engineer, beginning with the commencement of the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1832. These tables of elevations comprise several hundred points in various localities between the Alleghany Mountains and tide water of the Pacific Ocean, and be- tween the Ohio River and Lake Superior. The eleva- tions were ascertained in the course of numerous sur- veys for canals and railroads, under his supervision and that of other civil engineers, by the more accurate method of the spirit-level. More than half the points are in Indiana, many of them in adjoining states into which our public improvements run, while their scope is so extensive as to give heights of prominent mountain ranges and valleys on each of the five Pacific Railroad routes either constructed or located across the Rocky Mountain region."

ILLIAMS, SAMUEL P., banker and ex-mer- chant, was born at Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut, January 20, 1814. He is of American parentage and good family, the name of his grandfather's brother appearing as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Williams received the common school education of his time, but at an early age was thrown upon his own resources, being emphatically a self-made man. When eighteen years of age, he came with a relative of his father's to White Pigeon, Michigan, by way of Detroit, arriving in 1832, the year of the Black Hawk War. Here he commenced life as a merchant, continuing in it in this place and Lima for twenty consecutive years, be- coming prominent through Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana as a successful business man. Leav- ing White Pigeon in 1836, Mr. Williams removed to Lima, Lagrange County, Indiana, his present home, purchasing and laying out in building lots a quarter section of land adjoining Lima, which is known as Williams's Addition, and is now the main residence portion of the town. Here he carried on his business until 1853, when, with Hon. John B. Howe, he organ- ized and established the Lagrange Bank of Lima, the first organization of that kind in the county. In 1856 one of the branches of the Indiana State Bank was located at Lima, and the former institution was merged into it, with Mr. Williams in the position of president. This bank was superseded by the organization of the National State Bank, which still continues, with Mr. Williams as president. Mr. Williams has been an ex- tensive dealer in real estate in this and in other states,

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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 II, Part 101

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1006

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006