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 22
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gentleman-Judge John Davis, of Anderson, Indiana. Retiring from these duties in 1856, he was elected to the state Senate from the counties of Hancock and Madison, defeating Judge HI. H. Hall, serving four years. In 1861 he was elected Common Pleas Judge for the counties of Hancock, Henry, Rush, Decatur, and Madison, defeating Judge E. B. Martindale, lately of the Indianapolis Journal. In 1864 he resigned his of- fice as Judge, and the same year was made a presi- dential elector at large on the Union ticket, casting his vote in the Electoral College for Lincoln and Johnson. Prior to his election he served on a committee in the Union State Convention, and strongly urged the nomination of the men whom he afterward voted for as elector. In December of the same year President Lincoln sent his name to the Senate as United States Judge of the Court of New Mexico, but, at his own re- quest, his name was withdrawn without final action being taken thereon. In the winter of 1864-5 Governor Morton, all the state officers, Judges of the Supreme Court, and nearly all the Union members of the state Legislature, united in recommending Judge Gooding to President Lincoln for United States Minister to the gov- ernment of Chili. Before taking action on this matter, President Lincoln met his death at the hand of a cow- ardly assassin, and the recommendation was never brought to the attention of the Senate. In June, 1865, President Johnson, without solicitation, telegraphed to Judge Gooding, asking his acceptance of the United States marshalship in the District of Columbia. To this Mr. Gooding replied, giving his assent. The ap- pointment was immediately thereafter confirmed, and he proceeded to Washington and was duly installed, and at once entered upon the discharge of his du- ties. Judge Gooding's career as United States mar- shal was characterized by marked executive ability, and scrupulous attention to every requirement of his position. He had the full confidence and coun- sel of Mr. Johnson during his entire presidential career, their relations and intimacy being very confi- dential and sincere at all times. Besides approving the policy of the President, he was a warm, personal friend of his, and stood by him in evil as well as good report. Soon after the expiration of President John- son's term of office, Judge Gooding tendered his resig- nation as marshal to President Grant, which was ac- cepted, and in May, 1869, he returned to his home in Greenfield, resuming the practice of his profession. In the spring of 1870 he was unanimously nominated for Congress by the Democracy of the " Burnt District, " mak- ing the race against Jeremiah M. Wilson, the Republican nominee, and, although the usual Republican majority was about fourteen hundred, to which was added that year, for the first time, the colored vote of about eight hundred, Judge Gooding was led by his opponent only
four votes, according to the count. A few days subse- quent to this election, Judge Gooding's friends instituted an unofficial re-count in two precincts, where there had been confusion and disorder, and as a result of this in- vestigation established that he had really had a majority of seventeen votes. However, the certificate of election was issued to Mr. Wilson, who took his seat in Con- gress. Soon after that gentleman had been sworn in, Judge Gooding took steps for contesting his right to it, attending to the legal proceedings in person, with a tact and ability that won for him unqualified praise. The matter was referred to the Committee on Elections, which was largely Republican, and they reported in favor of Mr. Wilson. Judge Gooding's speech in this contest, made in the House in defense of his position, was among the most extensively copied and circulated efforts of the kind ever made in that body. In the summer of 1872 he again received the unanimous nom- ination for Congress, but, the district being more largely Republican than formerly, he was, naturally enough, defeated by his old competitor, Judge Wilson. In 1874 Judge Gooding was selected as one of the Democratic state central committee, and served in that capacity for two years, doing good service for his party. In 1876 he canvassed the state in behalf of the national and state Democratic tickets, and his canvass is spoken of as one of the most brilliant and effectual made in the state. In 1878 he was a prominent and formidable can- didate for Secretary of State before the Democratic state convention, receiving a greater number of votes than any other candidate on the first ballot, and only second to the nominee on the last ballot. In the autumn of 1879, with Governor Hendricks, Senator Voorhees, and other distinguished Democrats, he went into the Ohio state canvass, which was exceedingly exciting, making several powerful and argumentative speeches to large audiences, returning home just before the election. Judge Gooding is a Master Granger, but belongs to no other secret society. In 1844 he was married to Miss Frances M. Sebastian, daughter of William Sebastian. This estimable lady is still living. Judge Gooding is the father of one son, Marshall B. Gooding, with whom he is associated in the practice of law. Thus it will be seen that Judge Gooding has been almost constantly before the people, either in the public offices or as an active worker in the councils of his party. And it can be said of him, what can be asserted of few public men, that his public record is without tarnish. As a lawyer, Judge Gooding is logical and profound. As a political speaker, he occupies one of the most exalted stations in Indiana politics, being an orator of excep- tional elocutionary power. His future is a brilliant one, and he is destined yet to fill many stations of honor in the public offices of his state and nation. He is a man of fine physique, standing six feet two, and with a most
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commanding presence. At the Democratic state con- vention held this year he was appointed an elector at large, standing at the head of the ticket. He enters the present campaign full of vigor, showing all his powers in the work before him. In August he received a most flattering invitation from the Democratic state executive committee of Ohio to make a canvass of that state for the Democratic party, but was unable to accept it, as his duties to his own state forbade.
ALOTT, VOLNEY T., son of William H. and Leah P. (McKown) Malott, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, September 9, 1838. His father was engaged in farming in that county, but re- moved to Salem, Washington County, Indiana, in 1841, where he engaged with his brother, Major Eli W. Malott, in mercantile business. His ancestors settled in Kentucky soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, in which some of them participated. His pater- nal grandfather engaged in the War of 1812 in Canada, and his maternal grandfather in the Indian war in In- diana. William H. Malott died at Salem, Indiana, November 5, 1845, leaving a young widow with three little children; the subject of this sketch, the oldest, being aged seven years; Mary C., aged three years; and Eli W., an infant, that died one month after his father's death. January, 1847, the widow married John F. Ramsay, and removed to Indianapolis, taking her two young children. Before this date the lad had attended a school kept by John I. Morrison. He completed a common school education at Indianapolis, going to schools kept by Rev. William A. Holliday and Pro- fessor B. F. Lang, and also attending the Central High School, leaving the latter at the age of sixteen to enter the banking-house of John Woolley & Co. (Bank of the Capital). He had previously been employed clerking during vacations, and was for a time messenger in the Traders' Bank. He had thus early evinced an aptitude for business that made his assistance in demand; and while attending school his services were pre-engaged by the bank when he should desire to leave school. He re- mained here, acting as teller after a while, until 1857, when he was chosen teller of the Indianapolis branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana, where he remained until August, 1862, resigning to accept the position of secretary and treasurer of the Peru and Indianapolis Railroad, to which he had been elected. He was ap- pointed state director of the branch Bank of the State in 1864. In 1865, with others, he organized the Mer- chants' National Bank, of Indianapolis, and was elected cashier, retaining the office of treasurer of the railroad. The road was completed in 1871, and, with the Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville Railroad, passed into the con-
trol of the Indianapolis, Peru and Chicago Railway Company, of which he was treasurer and a director. In 1875 he was elected general manager of the line, now holding the office of vice-president and general manager. In the spring of 1870 he resigned the office of cashier of the bank to superintend the construction of the Michigan City and Indianapolis Railroad. In October, 1878, he was elected president of the Merchants' National Bank, and has been for several years a director of the Meridian National Bank. As an officer of the Brazil Block Coal Company, he has aided in the exten- sion of the block coal trade to Northern Indiana, Michi- gan, and Illinois. He has taken a deep interest in the improvement of Michigan City harbor, and by his coun- sel and labor has rendered valuable aid to this important work. In 1862 he married Caroline, daughter of Hon. David Macy. They have six children, one son and five daughters. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and trustee and chairman of the finance committee of the Meridian Street Church. In 1880 Mr. Malott began to fail in health, owing to prolonged and close applica- tion to business, and was advised by his physicians to take a rest. He decided upon a European tour, and, taking his son, a lad of sixteen, with him, started for Europe, spending two months in travel and sight-seeing, and returning in full health and vigor. The great suc- cess that has been attained by Mr. Malott in all his busi- ness has been greatly owing to his steady persistence, stern integrity, and excellent judgment, qualities which cause him to take rank with the leading business men of the state.
ILFORD, JOSEPH M., of Indianapolis, was born in Scott County, Kentucky, February 17, 1811. His grandfather, William Telford, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1749. This manner of spelling the name was followed in recording the birth of his father's family, thirteen in number, with the exception of the two younger. Their names were written Tilford, in a handwriting which the subject of this sketch rec- ognizes as his brother's. That the name should thus have been changed has ever been a source of regret to the family. Joseph's grandfather, with two brothers, emigrated to Virginia, where he lived at the breaking out of the Revolution. He served under General Wash- ington, and in 1790 moved to Kentucky, where he en- dured all the privations and dangers incident to pioneer life on the "dark and bloody ground." Alexander Tilford, father of Joseph, was then a boy of fifteen years. At twenty-one he married Eleanor Mccullough, a lady of Scotch descent. In the War of 1812 he did a soldier's duty. In 1816 he moved, with his family, in- cluding his father, then sixty-seven years of age, to Jef- ferson County, Indiana, ten miles west of Madison. At
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this time Joseph was five years old. His father died in 1828. Joseph had attended the common schools of his day, and in 1827 was sent to Hanover College. He was at the opening session of that institution, and relates that the Rev. Mr. Crowe, who was in charge, for lack of better facilities, heard recitations at his own resi- dence. Among his classmates were Noble Butler, since author of the " Grammar of Grammars; " David Smock, Rev. James Latimore, and others. After remaining a year, he concluded to learn the cabinet-making business, and devoted three years to this work with Captain J. G. Henderson, at Salem, Indiana. He then began business for himself in Madison, and, after remaining there until 1850, removed to a farm three miles west of Hanover. In the fall of 1853 he changed to Indianapolis, his present home. In 1854 Mr. Tilford became associated with Ovid Butler and J. M. Mathes in the purchase of the Indianapolis daily and weekly Journal, for which they paid to John D. Defrees the sum of twenty thou- sand dollars. The paper became known as the Indian- apolis Journal Company, into which was merged the Free Democrat. Mr. Tilford became president of the association in 1856, and retained his position until the sale of the Journal to Colonel W. R. Holloway, in 1864, for the sum of thirty thousand dollars, not including the real estate of the association, which was valued at a like sum. For many years past Mr. Tilford has been connected with the Indianapolis Publishing House. In 1833 he married Miss Mary A. Maxwell, whose name would indicate Irish Protestant descent. She was the daughter of Samuel C. Maxwell, of Jefferson County, Indiana. Nine children have blessed this union, of whom two sons and four daughters are still living- John H. and Samuel E., Eliza E., Emma J., Julia V., and Alice T. It is worthy of honorable record that both sons and three sons-in-law were in the Union army. John H. was surgeon in the 79th Indiana for four years. Samuel E. enlisted in the 11th Indiana for three months; in the 26th Indiana for twenty-two months ; and in the 132d Indiana for one hundred days. J. P. Avery, son-in-law, was assistant surgeon for three years in the IIth Indiana. Perry Hall, son-in-law, was chap- lain of the 79th Indiana, and died in the service. J. N. Green, a son-in-law, was surgeon in the 19th Indiana. John H. is now a practicing physician in Windom, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Tilford are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Tilford's political associations are with the Republican party, and, in its hour of need, when to be an Abolitionist required both moral and physical courage, Mr. Tilford was the true friend of the oppressed. Of the two votes cast for James G. Birney in 1840 in the township where he then resided, Mr. Tilford's was one. He was for many years one of the board of directors of the North-western Christian Uni- versity, of Indianapolis. As early as 1840 he was set
apart as an elder in the Christian Church at Madison by Elder Walter Scott, and has ever since served in that capacity at his several places of residence. He has been chosen by his fellow-citizens to serve them in the common council, and as a member of the board of school trustees. Mr. Tilford's life has been busy, if not event- ful, and now, on the verge of threescore years and ten, his mind is active, and in conversation he displays the result of much study and observation. He has always been known as a sound man of business, careful and observant, never hastening to conclusions, and forming opinions only on mature reflection. In his social rela- tions he enjoys the love and esteem of those who know him best, and is regarded by his acquaintances as a genial neighbor, a sincere friend, and one whose relig- ious convictions are exemplified in his daily life.
RUSLER, COLONEL NELSON, was born De- cember II, 1823, in Franklin County, Indiana. He was the son of Samuel W. Trusler and Martha Trusler, Virginians by birth; and when quite young his parents moved to Fayette County, in tbe state of Indiana, and took up their residence upon a farm, purchased in that fertile region of Eastern In- diana, nine miles south-east of Connersville. After a brief illness, in September, 1838, his mother died, and subsequently, in the month of August, 1846, the father also died, after a few days' sickness, leaving a family of five children, four sons and one daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest. Al- though his parents did not live to be of very great age, yet he was a descendant of long-lived ancestors, the average age of his four grand-parents being over eighty. During the minority of Nelson Trusler he worked upon the farm, and attended the common and select schools of the section of the country where he resided, and became well educated in what is gener- ally termed the English branches, in which he became the more proficient by reason of his being a teacher, for a period of about two years, in some of the best public schools in the eastern part of the state. The forensic and legal ability and talents for which he be- came noted in later years were manifest early in life, and naturally inclined him to the study of law, and he entered the legal arena of the Whitewater bar, among whom were such noted men as Caleb B. Smith, Samuel W. Parker, James Rairden, John Ry- man, Charles H. Test, John A. Matson, and many other noted legal celebrities of that day. At the time of his father's death he was prosecuting the study of law with the Hon. John A. Matson, at Brookville, In- diana, and shortly thereafter was admitted to practice at the bar. On December 2, 1849, he was married
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to Miss Salome Stanton, a school-mate, and soon after [ him for Attorney-general, but he was defeated with the took up his residence in Connersville, the county seat rest of the candidates of that party on the state ticket. In 1872 he was appointed by President Grant District Attorney of the United States for the District of Indi- ana, to succeed General Thomas M. Browne, who had resigned to make the race for Governor of Indiana, as candidate of the Republican party. At the expiration of four years he was reappointed by President Grant Attorney-general for that district, which position he held at the time of his death, having held this office continuously for a period of seven years, and in it ren- dering the country most excellent service. He was a man of fine physical appearance, and when in health weighed over two hundred pounds. His death was the result of heart disease, and was very sudden and unex- pected to his friends, although a few of his intimate as- sociates and relatives had had fears, for some time pre- vious to the sad event, that such might be the final termination of the affliction from which he had been suffering for some two years. Having received a special invitation from Gus Williams, the drummer boy of his old regiment, the 84th, to be present at a public enter- tainment at the Grand Opera-house in Indianapolis on the evening of January 29, 1880, in which the drummer- boy was to take a prominent part, he, in company with his wife and some friends, had just entered the aisle of the Opera-house, and while being conducted to seats by the usher he suddenly fell to the floor, and, without a struggle or uttering a word, expired. The event occa- sioned a great sensation in Indianapolis. He was in the fifty-seventh year of his age, leaving his widow and a son and two daughters to mourn his loss, together with many relatives and friends. Large meetings of the bar were held at Connersville, his former home, and in the United States Circuit Court-room, at Indianapolis, at which resolutions were passed and addresses were delivered expressive of sorrow at his death, and speaking in the highest terms of his kindness of heart, genial nature, services as a soldier, and his ability, honesty, and fidelity as a lawyer and pub- lic servant in the various positions of trust and honor which he held. Eulogies were delivered upon his life, character, and public services by the ven- erable Judge Charles H. Test, General Benjamin Harrison, General John Coburn, Major Jonathan W. Gordon, Judge Jacob B. Julian, Wilson Morrow, and John A. Henry. His remains were taken for interment on a special train to his old home, at Connersville, where more than a quarter of a cen- tury previous, in the vigor of young manhood, he began his successful professional and public career. Special trains were run upon the different railroads entering that city, bringing hundreds of friends from Indianapolis and the eastern part of the state, to take a last look at his face and pay their of Fayette County, Indiana, and at once entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. His genial nature and social qualities, forensic powers and legal ability, soon won for him many friends and a lucrative practice in the courts of the counties of Fayette, Franklin, Union, and Rush, and he soon took position in the front rank of the bar of the courts mentioned, beside the noted attorneys already named. While thus en- gaged in the practice of the law, he was elected as Representative to the General Assembly of his state, after a bitter political contest, his political opponent being the noted Baptist preacher, the Rev. Wilson W. Thompson, candidate of the Democratic party for that position. He and his wife were members of the Epis- copal Church. In February, 1862, his wife died, leav- ing four small children. In the September following, intrusting the care and education of his children to rel- atives and friends, for the time being he abandoned the practice of the law and legal contests, for the conflicts of the battle-field. The life of the Republic hung trembling in the balance; hundreds of thousands of armed foes were in battle array, marshaled and fighting for the dis- solution of the Union, and the overthrow and destruction of his government. He volunteered his services in be- half of his country in the hour of its greatest peril, and was commissioned by Govornor Morton colonel of the 84th Indiana Regiment, and was after this continuously with and in command of his regiment in all its trials and conflicts until after the great battle of Chickamauga, fought on the 19th and 20th of September, 1863. In this battle his regiment was in the fiercest part of the fight, one of the most fiercely contested during the war, and suffered a loss of one hundred and twenty-five men, in killed, wounded, and missing. On the 17th of Octo- ber, 1863, he resigned his command as colonel, on account of ill-health, and returned to his home in Con- nersville, where he again began practice. On the 9th of April, 1864, he was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Pumphrey. He was an ardent Republican and took an active part in political canvasses, being a speaker of great power and influence in political campaigns, as well as in the courts. Having received the nomination of the Republican party for the office of Secretary of State for the state of Indiana, he was elected to that office in 1864, and in January, 1865, he moved to In- dianapolis and entered upon the duties of the position. He was renominated and re-elected by his party to the same position in 1866, discharging the duties courteously, faithfully, and honestly for a period of four years, with the approval of his constituents. At the close of his second term as Secretary of State he resumed the prac- tice of law at Indianapolis, in connection with Wilson Morrow, Esq. In 1870 the Republican party nominated
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tribute of respect to his memory. Ilis body was com- mitted to its final resting-place, at four o'clock, P. M., on the first day of February, A. D. ISSO, in the beauti- ful valley of the Whitewater, in the cemetery adjoin- ing the city of Connersville, beside the grave of his first wife and five children, the last solemn burial rites at the grave being conducted by the Masonic Frater- nity, of which order he was a member. His death was deeply lamented throughout the whole state.
of their love and affection for you. This massive gold- headed cane, bearing the inscription, 'To our father, from his children, October 22, 1879,' implies more, in- deed, than any intrinsic value it may possess. Take it, my old and esteemed friend, and keep it in remem- brance of those who gave it; and may it serve to sup- port and guard your footsteps in the down-hill journey of life. These gold spectacles I present to you, Mrs. Tyner. They are a gift from those who love and almost idolize you as a mother. May they, as your eyes grow dim by advanced age, light up the pathway of life."
Mr. Tyner is unostentatious, and of unimpeachable morality and integrity. IIe is loved by all for his hos- pitality and kindness of heart.
TYNER, JAMES, was born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, September 19, 1807. He is the son of John and Fannie Tyner. His paternal grand-parents resided during the Revolution in a district largely inhabited by Tories, and suffered most inhuman treatment from them. They were obliged at times to flee for their lives, and hide with their children in the woods for weeks. The grandfather is supposed to have been mercilessly killed by them. James Tyner's maternal grandfather served valiantly for five years as a soldier in the American army during the Revolution. The subject of our sketch was born in 1808, when his father removed with his family to Franklin County, Indiana. In 1813 they located on a farm in Fayette County, where in 1822 the father died, leaving the care and responsibility of the surviving family chiefly to the eldest son, James, who was then fourteen years of age. The young man, by industry and economy, succeeded in maintaining himself and family comfortably. The schools of that early day were hardly worthy of the name, and he attended them but a few terms during the winter months. At the age of twenty-two he was married to Lucinda Caldwell, daughter of James Cald- well, and soon thereafter removed to a farm, where he began life on his own account. In 1835 he perma- nently located in Brandywine Township, Hancock County. In the early days of Indiana he commanded a rifle company in the state troops, and on muster days made a creditable display. In politics, he claims to be a Jeffersonian Jackson Democrat. His first vote was cast for Andrew Jackson, in 1828. The only official position he has ever occupied was that of commissioner of Hancock County, which he satisfactorily filled for fourteen years. In religion, he has stood firm as an Old-school Baptist for thirty-six years. October 22, 1879, he celebrated his golden wedding at his home in Hancock County, surrounded by numerous friends and relatives. Among the latter were ten children, fifty- two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. On In 1846 Mr. Vinton married, at Miamisburg, Miss this occasion, his fellow-citizen, Major A. K. Branham, in a presentation speech, used the following language: |Mrs. Vinton still resides at the homestead at Indian-
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