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 120

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 120

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REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

13th Dist.]

1861, Emily C. Caddington, of Vincennes, Indiana. They are much liked by their neighbors. They have had three children, one son and two daughters, of whom one son and one daughter survive.

ILCOX, SAMUEL P., ticket agent of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and manager of the Western Union Telegraph office, at Elkhart, Indiana, was born in Bridgewater, Washtenaw County, Michigan, on the eleventh day of March, 1847. His ancestry has been traced back to England, and the coat of arms of the distinguished En- glish family is now in possession of a gentleman in New Haven, Connecticut. Four brothers named Wilcox emigrated from England to this country in an early day. Soon after their arrival one died, and the remaining three settled, one in Massachusetts, one in Rhode Island, and one in Connecticut. Jonathan, a descendant of the one who settled in Connecticut, lived at Middletown. IIe was captain in the English colonial troops. He died at the age of fifty-five, on the banks of the beautiful Lake George, after fighting in a severe battle with the French. He left six sons-Ezekiel, Thomas, Gershom, James, Asa, and Oliver, also one or two daughters. Gershom was captured at Quebec, when fighting under General Montgomery, in the War of the Revolution, and taken to England, from thence to Ireland, where, by the assistance of Lord Grattan, he made his escape to France, when further trace of him was lost. Ezekiel, Thomas, and James took part in the Revolution, fight- ing for the true cause of Americans. The other brothers were too young for service. Thomas, the great grandfather, was born in 1750, in Middletown, Connecti- cut. He was married in New Marlborough, Massa- chusetts, in 1772, to Thankful Barber, a native of Dan- bury, Connecticut. To them were born ten children. His grandfather, Samuel W., the fourth child and third son, was born at New Marlborough, Massachusetts, in 1779. In 1802 he was married to Prudence Pratt. His family consisted of eight children, four sons and four daughters-Albert, Samuel P., Clinton H., and Augustus. Of the sisters there were Harriet Rice, who died August 13, 1827, aged twenty-four; Prudence Boyd, died June, 1835, aged twenty-seven; Julia Ann Aulls, died July, 1878, aged sixty-eight ; and Thankful Mariette, died in October, 1840, aged twenty-three years. INTERBOTHAM, JOHN HUMPHREY, state Senator, of Michigan City, was born in Connect- icut, in the year 1815. He comes of a long line of distinguished ancestors, some of whom were manufacturers in the mother country, while others earned flattering prominence in the world of letters. One of these, the Rev. William Winterbotham, was the His great grandfather's children, namely, Ozias, died 1785, aged thirteen; Deborah Smith, born 1774, died when past fifty years of age; Jonathan died in 1802, aged twenty-eight; Samuel died in 1849, aged sixty- nine; Lucy King died at the age of cighty; Gershom at eighty; Thomas died in 1814, aged twenty-eight; | Ozias, second, aged three years; Abraham died when | author of a "History of North America" and a " His-

past fifty; Auren died at the age of eighty-one. His father, Augustus W., was born in Guilford, New York, on the eighth day of April, 1821. He removed to Michi- gan in 1835. In February, 1845, he married Almira Bradley, whose family were from Perry, New York, and formerly from Connecticut. The ancestors on both mother and father's side were all of English origin, and true blue for the American cause in the dark days of the Revolution. Samuel P. Wilcox received a slender education at the common schools, leaving home when but thirteen years of age to battle with the world. From that time until he was seventeen he worked upon a farm and attended school as much as possible. In 1863 he entered the city telegraph office at Adrian, Michi- gan, in the capacity of messenger. After three months of close application he acquired sufficient knowledge to go on the road, and was employed as operator at Burr Oak, Michigan. From this time his promotion was gradual and deserved. He went from Burr Oak to Coldwater, Michigan, where he remained doing valuable service three years, as operator and ticket agent. About this time he got the Western fever, and secured an appoint- ment from the Western Union Telegraph Company to go to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, at that time near the seat of Indian hostilities. He remained seven months in the West, returning to Hudson, Michigan, where he immediately entered the telegraph service, and remained until the following spring, then being called to Elkhart, Indiana, to assume telegraphic duties in the office at that place. He was employed here from the spring of 1868 until the spring of 1872, when he was promoted to be manager of the office in connection with operat- ing. In the spring of 1875 he became ticket agent at Elkhart Station, retaining the management of the tele- graphic department. In December, 1868, he was mar- ried to Emily Curtis, of Bristol, Indiana, by whom he had two children, Edith Belle and Charles Curtis. The former died when but two years old. His beloved wife, Emily, died in January, 1874. In the spring of 1875 he was again married, to Lucy Aurand, whose ancestors were from Pennsylvania. Mr. Wilcox became an hon- ored member of the Masonic Fraternity in June, 1877. He is a genial, courteous gentleman and respected by all who know him, and is a valuable member of society in Elkhart.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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tory of China," both works of marked ability. Although Mr. Winterbotham's nearer ancestors were most remark- able for such traits as develop the natural resources of a nation, his father, John Winterbotham, inherited some- what of this studious disposition. His consuming thirst for knowledge led him to employ the time not devoted to active business to study and books, which, once read, never escaped his memory. At the period which ushered into existence the subject of this sketch, the father was devoting all his energies, as junior partner and active business manager, to the success of a firm which established the first important manufactory of broadcloth in New England, at Derby, Connecticut. David Humphrey, the senior partner, was a man of national prominence, and no less celebrated as an enter- prising business man than as a diplomatist and states- man. He was the honored guest and chosen friend of Washington and Adams, and accompanied the latter to France as secretary of the legation when Adams repre- sented the new republic at the court of St. Cloud. Subsequently appointed Minister to Portugal, he mar- ried, in England, a lady of great wealth, while passing through that country en route to his post of duty. On his return he introduced, by importation from Spain, the first merino sheep ever known in the United States, and, settling in Derby, established the firm mentioned above, in a portion of the town thereafter known as Hum- phreysville. The death of Colonel Humphrey, about 1818, dissolved the copartnership, and, after traveling over different portions of the country seeking a favorable location, the junior partner bought a factory in another part of Connecticut. He continued the business with varying success until the results of the confused and dis- astrous legislation of 1827 and 1828 swept away the labor of a life-time, leaving him, at the age of fifty- eight, with a large family and a new destiny to work out. But neither age nor misfortune could conquer his energy. He resolved to build up a new home in the West; not in his old business-he had no means left for that-but, in the forests of Ohio, then almost a frontier state, he resolved to clear a farm, though he had never touched a plow or wielded an axe in his life. At this time John Humphrey Winterbotham, the eldest son of a large family, was a lad of fourteen years. Among his sisters are, Mrs. Mary Mott, now re- siding in Auburn, Indiana, a lady of fine literary taste and many accomplishments; and Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, the author of many books that have found a world-wide publication. When it was decided that the family should go West, buy a tract of land with the remnant of a shattered fortune, and commence life anew, young John Winterbotham left his boyhood behind him, and stood side by side with his father. Perhaps a spirit of enter- prise, mingled with filial devotion, made him ready to go anywhere; certain it is that when a settlement

was found in the heart of Ohio his hand was the first to fell a tree, and his laugh rang out most cheerily when his old father succeeded in hacking one down, in the midst of his boys. The young man's energies never failed him so long as there was a loved one to shelter and help. When a home was made, and his parents in their increasing years were surrounded with the comforts of life, the young man married Miss Mahala Rosecrans, of Kingston, Delaware County, Ohio, a lady who proved a devoted wife, and to whose in- domitable energy and self-sacrificing efforts he at- tributes much of his success in life. He soon after removed to Columbus, where he formed a partner- ship, took a prison contract, and commenced the manufacture of agricultural tools in the Ohio Peniten- tiary. In 1853, having secured a long lease of the prison labor of Iowa, he removed to Fort Madison, in that state. During the existence of this contract, his buildings and machinery were twice burned to the ground, each time proving a total loss, as no insurance could be had on property deemed so hazardous; but he immediately rebuilt the ruined workshops, stocked them with new machinery, and pushed the business on with renewed vigor. When the term of this contract expired, and he had secured a competence, Mr. Winter- botham, with other friends, established the Fort Mad- ison National Bank, of which he became president; but the quiet of a bank soon became distasteful to the active man of business, and the old spirit of enterprise grew strong within him. At the solicitation of Warden Higgins, of the Northern Indiana Prison, he made pro- posals for a lease of labor in that institution, which were accepted, and in July, 1866, he bade good-bye to the bank of Fort Madison, to try his fortune among the sand-hills of Michigan City. When the success of this undertaking was assured, his sons became partners, and the new firm, J. H. Winterbotham & Sons, added a prison contract at Joliet, Illinois, to their other business, with headquarters in Chicago. Mr. Winterbotham still resides in Michigan City, where his abilities have given him an enviable popularity. Of late years he has given his attention to the political interests of the country, and especially of the state of Indiana. In 1872 he was elected state Senator, as a Liberal Republican, on the Greeley ticket, by a flattering majority, over a talented and popular opponent. In 1876 he was unanimously renominated, and re-elected by a largely increased ma- jority, to the same position which he had so ably filled. Mr. Winterbotham is now sixty-four years of age, and nothing but his desire for private life can prevent him from holding other important public positions. He is a man of rare executive ability, strict integrity of pur- pose, and stubborn force of will. His correctness of judgment and fidelity to all trusts, whether public or private, have caused him to be favorably mentioned in

Amos Ipoollup. M. D.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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different localities as an available and conservative can- didate for governor, and there can be no doubt he would fill that chair admirably.

OOLLEY, AMOS, pioneer of Kosciusko County, and physician and surgeon of Warsaw, the county seat, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1829. His parents moved to Cincin- nati, Ohio, in 1833, when that city was but a small town. They subsequently removed to Warren County, Ohio, where Amos Woolley attended the common schools until his seventeenth year. He then came with his two older brothers to Miami County, Indiana, where they at once engaged in the business of wagon and car- riage making, Mr. Amos Woolley attending to the blacksmith work. This, however, was too laborious for him, and in 1846 his health failed. He therefore aban- coned his trade and commenced teaching school, devot- ing all his leisure hours to reading medicine, under the supervision of Doctor B. Henton, one of the first phy- sicians of Peru, Miami County. From early boy- hood Mr. Woolley had a desire to become a phy- sician, and, having proceeded far enough in his readings to find the work congenial, he shortly after abandoned teaching and devoted his entire time to the study of medi- cine in the office of Doctor Henton. He applied him- self faithfully, and made so rapid a progress that in two years he was qualified to practice. He began practice with Doctor C. Hector, of Gilead, in the same county, and success attended his efforts from the beginning. In 1857 he removed to Kosciusko County, where he opened an office. This was early in the settle- ment of this county, and he was obliged to travel much on horseback; the roads were rough and almost impas- sable at times and his practice extended for many miles around. As the country opened, his labor increased, until he commanded as large a practice as any other physician in that part of the state. Doctor Woolley has married three times. In 1849 he married Miss Anna Tong, who died in 1859, leaving three children. The following year he was united in marriage to Miss Pris-

cilla Hosman, who died in the spring of 1865.

married his present wife, Miss Martha Bunker, Novem- ber 19, 1865. They have one child. In 1866 Doctor Woolley assisted in the organization of the Fort Wayne Medical College, and afterward graduated with honor from that institution. In 1868 he removed to Warsaw, where he has since remained. His long residence in the county, together with his skill, judgment, and order, has gained for him a high position in the community, as well as among the medical profession. He aims to keep himself informed of all discoveries and improvements, and to avail himself of them in his practice; yet he is careful and conservative, and does not abandon old and

well-tried means until the superiority of new ones is already established. IIe is a man of eminent social qualities; his judgments are cool and deliberate, and his convictions, consequently, strong. In politics he is a Republican, but, having devoted his entire time to the practice of his profession, he is not a politician, in the broadest acceptation of that term, and votes for the man of his choice, regardless of party ties. He looks carefully after the interests of his home; is ready to give advice and assistance to any who are in need; and wherever he goes inspires confidence in his ability.

OODS, THOMAS, county clerk of Kosciusko County, is a native of Huntertown, Adams County, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the 25th of November, 1829. We have no account of his parents, who removed from the Keystone State to Cham- paign County, Ohio, when he was four years old. He went to school as much as his opportunities allowed, and acquired a good English education. In November, 1848, he determined to strike out for himself, and re- moved to the county of Kosciusko, in Indiana, pitching his tent at Warsaw. Mr. H. W. Upson, then living in that town, was in need of some one to help him in the tailoring business, and engaged young Woods, who had fortunately been instructed in the art before leaving home. He immediately became very popular with his townsmen and with the people of the county, which is shown by the fact that from 1852, when he was elected township clerk, down to the present time, he has almost constantly been in office. The clerk of Kosciusko County, Samuel HI. Chipman, Esq., perceived his value in the position he was then occupying and appointed him deputy in 1854, and at the close of Mr. Chipman's time he became his successor, as the law prohibited any one from holding the office for more than two terms successively. This was in October, 1855, and, as the same limitation applied to him that did to his prede- cessor, he was obliged to give way to a new man in 1863, the change, however, being merely nominal, as Mr. Woods still continued to transact the business of the office as deputy ; and he held this position under va- rious gentlemen until 1875, when he again became clerk. He declined a re-election in 1878, thinking that a quar- ter of a century of service in one position was enough. He has been a member of the board of school trustees, and has been active and influential in building up the system of public instruction of which Warsaw is justly so proud. He owes his success in life to his pleasant and agreeable manners, and his enterprise and public spirit. His offices have been filled with honor to him- self and with satisfaction to the citizens. Miss Catha- rine A. Smith, of Kosciusko County, well known for

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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her devoted labors in the cause of temperance and for her self-sacrificing charity, was united to him in mar- riage on the 5th of November, 1854.

RIGHT, HENRY C., one of the most extensive lumber merchants and manufacturers of sashes,

2 doors, etc., in Elkhart, was born in Whitehall, Washington County, New York, September 2, 1832. His father, David S. Wright, was a native of Addison County, Vermont, who, on arriving at maturity, married Lucy A. Wadhams, and removed to Whitehall, New York. The subject of this sketch was the oldest of six children. He completed his education at St. Lawrence University, Potsdam, New York, from which he graduated with high honor. After leaving school he resolved to go West. In 1859 he opened a general country store in Rantoul, Illinois, and was engaged in a flourishing business when the Rebellion occurred. Actuated by his loyalty to the Union, he enlisted in September, 1861, as a private in the 25th Illinois Reg. iment, under General Sigel. After three years of service in this capacity he was promoted to first lieutenant, and subsequently, for valuable service rendered at Pea Ridge and Stone River, was commissioned regimental quarter- master. The last named position he filled with honor

until the close of the war. After his discharge from the service he accepted the responsible position of cashier and manager of the Battle Creek (Michigan) Woolen Mills, which he held for more than a year. He was next employed as bookkeeper for the wholesale and retail dry-goods firm of Bates, Penfield & Company, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was connected with this firm two years, and on January, 1870, removed to Elk- hart and established what has proved to be an exten- sive business. It consists in dealing in lumber, and manufacturing sashes, doors, blinds, etc. Mr. Wright has been interested in the development of the thriving town of Elkhart, and was a member of the common council for several years. He was instrumental in the proper construction of the city government, and upon the organization of Elkhart under the city charter was elected first mayor of the city. He performed the duties of this office to the satisfaction of all. Mr. Wright was married, July 22, 1857, to Marion E. Hen- drick, of Schenectady, Schenectady County, New York. They have had five children, namely: Ella F., born December 5, 1870; Mary E., born January 10, 1865; Ernest, born September 1, 1866; Lucy W., born Janu- ary 27, 1868; Victor, born August 31, 1874. Mr. Wright enjoys the confidence and esteem of all his fel- low-citizens. It is his intention to make Elkhart his per- manent home.

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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 120

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