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 48

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 48

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tion and was licensed to teach a common school, The next two winters were thus employed, and his earnings in this capacity enabled him to attend the Augusta Academy in the summers of 1840 and 1841. After fin- ishing his studies in this institution of learning, he entered the law office of John Dean, Esq., at Deansville, New York, on the 4th of May, 1842. In this place he successfully laid the foundation of his legal knowledge, and upon removing to Indiana, in June, 1844, he en- tered the office of the late Hon. D. D. Pratt, of Lo- gansport. After being there for three months, he at- tracted the attention of the talented but eccentric Rufus A. Lockwood, then in full practice in Lafayette. Mr. Lockwood offered him a responsible position in his office, which was accepted; and when the latter re- moved to California, in February, 1849, Mr. Chase was Jeft in full control of his business and property. He was admitted to practice by the Circuit Court in August, 1844, by the Supreme Court of the state of Indiana in December, 1845, and by the Supreme Court of the United States in February, 1863. Law has found an attentive votary in him, and all of his time, except that which he gives to the Lafayette Savings Bank, is spent in examination of its principles and in ap- plication of its rules. He has two sons associated with him in the practice of his profession, Fred S. and Frank W. His third son, H. G. Chase, M. D., is located at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati. Mr. Chase has for a long time been prominently identified with the railroad interests of Lafayette, as great, per- haps, as those of any other city of its size, particularly with the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago (from 1852 to 1868), the Lafayette, Muncie and Blooming- ton (now the Lake Erie and Western), and the Cincin- nati, Lafayette and Chicago Railroads. Mr. Chase was largely instrumental in establishing the Lafayette Savings Bank in 1869. He drafted the law, and with a few of his friends, and especially M. L. Peirce, Esq., succeeded in placing it upon a sound basis. He filled the posi- tion of one of its trustees for a number of years, and was subsequently elected its president, which position he still holds. This institution has met with remark- able success, largely owing to the attention Mr. Chase has been able to give to it. He is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church. In politics, he is a Re- publican, but has never held any public office ex- cepting that of prosecuting attorney of the adjoining county of Benton when he was a young man, and other trusts of a minor character. He was married, on the 12th of May, 1847, to Miss R. Sophia Gridley, of Oneida County, New York, and has had six children born to him, five of whom are still living. Mr. Chase ranks among the ablest and most trustworthy lawyers of Lafayette ; his reputation resting chiefly upon his sound knowledge and generally correct application of

the common law. His probity is proverbial. His im- pulses, always earnest, are usually in the right direction. Ile enjoys a large and lucrative practice, and is as much a student now as when he first opened his Black- stone. His success, in addition to his thorough knowl- edge of the law, is mainly due to his industry and fidelity, and to that high professional courtesy which is so characteristic of a well-bred lawyer. He has great force of character, fine social qualities, plain and unas- suming manners, and good executive abilities. As a speaker, he is original and forcible.

HITTENDEN, GEORGE F., M. D., of Anderson, was born in Switzerland County, Indiana, Decem- ber 25, 1830. The Chittendens are a very large and influential family, of English descent, and were among the first settlers of Connecticut. They subsequently pushed northward into Vermont, where Thomas Chittenden, great-great-grandfather of the sub- ject of this biography, filled the office of Governor of the state for twenty-one consecutive years. His son also occupied that position six years. S. B. Chittenden, present member of Congress from Brooklyn, New York, is a relative of Doctor Chittenden. His father, John H. Chittenden, was a farmer of New York, and an early pioneer of this state, having settled in Vevay, Switzer- land County, in 1818. He afterward moved to Ohio, where he is still living, at the advanced age of eighty. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary A. Mitchell, was born in Kingston, Rhode Island. Her father served in the War of 1812. Doctor Chittenden was educated primarily in the common schools, and in Corydon Acad- emy, which he attended two years. He then began the study of medicine at Madison, in the office of Benjamin Levitt. After three years of diligent study, including a course of lectures at the medical college in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he entered the University of Louisville, and was graduated in March, 1855. He then commenced practice in Milford, Decatur County; remained there three years, and removed thence to Anderson. Soon war began its work of woe in the South, and Doctor Chittenden was summoned to attend the suffering vic- tims. In May, 1861, he was appointed assistant sur- geon of the 16th Indiana Volunteers, and the following year was promoted to the surgeoncy of the regiment, which position he held until the spring of 1864, when, because of ill-health, he resigned and returned home. During this period he acted for one year as division surgeon of General A. J. Smith's division, and also as medical director of the Thirteenth Army Corps, under General John A. McClernand. In 1858 Doctor Chitten- den was chosen to represent Madison and Henry Coun- ties in the Legislature, and served one regular and one

H. W. Chase,

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special term as chairman of the Committee on Corpora- tions, and was a member of the Committee on Benevo- lent Institutions. In 1872 he was elected by the Legis- lature commissioner of the state hospital for the insane, and is still acting in that capacity. He is also a mem- ber of the provisional board of commissioners for the erection of the new hospital for the insane, which is to be the largest of the kind in the West, excepting that in Columbus, Ohio. The Doctor is connected with the Presbyterian Church. In politics his opinions are in ac- cord with those of the Republican party, and he always takes an active part in its management, being gener- ally on the county and state central committee for that purpose. He was married, in January, 1856, to Miss Amanda Branham, daughter of Linfield Branham, Esq., of Jennings County, a relative of David Branham, who was once a candidate for Governor of this state, but died during the campaign. Three children, Carrie, Ed- gar, and Mattie, have been born of this union. Doctor Chittenden stands at the head of his profession in Mad- ison County, and has few superiors in the state. Ile excels especially as a surgeon, and is considered the only proficient one in that county. Few physicians ever held at so early an age such important positions as he while in the army, nor performed their duties so ably. He is a man of refined taste, extensively ac- quainted with general literature, and a profound student of medicine. As already seen, his superior intelligence, ability, and peculiar fitness for the discharge of certain important trusts, have made him influential in politics, and secured him the confidence and esteem of the state authorities. In private life he is quiet and unobtrusive in demeanor, yet of a very social disposition, and a ready conversationalist. It is in these humbler relations that men's characters are most fully tested; and here, also, as in public duties, Doctor Chittenden is governed by principles of virtue and duty.

LARK, DOCTOR OTHNIEL LOOKER, of La- fayette, Indiana. Of those who assisted in the work of founding the now beautiful and thriving city of Lafayette, Indiana, and by their energy and means contributed in laying the solid foundation of its present prosperity, no name is more permanently associated, or more gratefully recalled, than that of the subject of this brief sketch. Doctor O. L. Clark was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, March 17, 1805. His par- ents were Alison and Sarah (Haymond) Clark, who were of English descent. His schooling was exceed- ingly limited, but his self-culture and reading made him prominent as a scholar. His father died when the son was very young, and the lessons of self-dependence which he was so early obliged to learn were doubtless

the secret of his success in after life. His first inclina- tion, and the one ruling purpose of his life, was the thorough mastery of the profession of medicine, and his extensive and successful practice testified the energy with which he pursued this calling. He first studied with his brother-in-law at Brookville, Indiana, com- mencing practice in Lafayette in the fall of 1826. He re- moved to Indiana in early life, and to Lafayette about the time the site of that city was determined upon. From that time to the day of his death his efforts and his means aided every public and educational measure for the advancement of the material interests of the place. Although he never sought public office, a large portion of his life was spent in public positions, the majority of which he assumed at a great pecuniary loss to himself. For many years he filled the office of county agent, and for ten years he represented his county in the state Legislature, eight years as state Sen- ator, with characteristic carefulness and fidelity. His letters written during this time to an intimate friend show an unselfish public spirit, and a care for the high- est interests of his constituents, that are not common. April 30, 1831, he was married, at Lafayette, to Miss Charille Durkee, formerly of Champion, Jefferson County, New York, whose father, Doctor John Durkee, one of the earliest settlers of Indiana, removed to Terre Haute, and thence to Lafayette, about the time of the sale of public lands at that place. The children of Doctor Clark numbered five boys and four girls, three of the former being now dead. He never made a pub- lic profession of religious faith, though at one time con- templating it, but he was an attendant of the Episcopal Church. For every thing sacred he had a most consci- entious regard, and was well versed in religious liter- ature. In politics he was first a Whig and afterwards a Republican. At the beginning of the late war he was intensely solicitous, first to avoid strife and then to succeed in that terrible conflict. For this purpose he visited President-elect Lincoln, in company with the Hon. Albert S. White, at his home in Springfield, Illinois, to confer with him on national affairs ; and was deeply moved and much troubled at what he considered Mr. Lincoln's seeming want of appreciation of the dan- ger and magnitude of the impending struggle. All of his sons who had reached the required age entered the army. He died December 29, 1866, at the age of sixty- one years, leaving a widow, two sons, and four daughters. Perhaps the briefest and most fitting tribute to his mem- ory can best be expressed in a remark often heard from those who knew him best: " His was a character of pure gold." Though, as before stated, he made no pub- lic profession of his religious faith, his private and pub- lic life were without reproach, and were a quiet but forcible exemplification of the best of creeds. As a husband, father, and friend, he was faithful, affectionate,

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and beloved; as a physician, he was careful and con- scientious; as a citizen, upright, public-spirited, and honest. Living a life of singular purity and unostenta- tious benevolence, his best and most appropriate epitaph is the lasting and affectionate regard with which his memory is still cherished by all who knew him.

OFFROTH, JOHN R., one of the ablest lawyers of Indiana, was born in Greencastle, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on the eleventh day of August, 1828. He was the son of William and Elizabeth (Wood) Coffroth. His father and grandfather were natives of Maryland, and were of German descent; while his mother was of English extraction-her ances- tors, for several generations, were natives of Virginia. John R. Coffroth received a good education, and was enabled to begin the study of the law with Hon. James X. McLanahan, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, while still a very young man. On the 2d of November, 1848, before he had reached his majority, he was admitted to the bar, and in May of the year following he re- moved to what was then the far West, settling in Huntington, Huntington County, Indiana. He at once entered upon the practice of law, and resided there un- til February 14, 1870, when he removed to the city of Lafayette, where he has since been constantly engaged in his profession. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the state of Indiana in November, 1851, and the Supreme Court of the United States in March, 1866. Mr. Coffroth takes a great interest in educational subjects. He was a trustee of Purdue Uni- versity for several years, and during a part of that time was president of the board. He is essentially a man of work, idleness is unknown to him. He has obtained an enviable reputation at the bar. As an advocate, he is a clear, concise, and able speaker, and at times shows great oratorical powers. He is a man of great pluck and energy, and seems to know no such word as fail. All questions submitted to him undergo a careful analysis. He is not content with being substantially right, but requires all details to be finished. His learn- ing is not confined to case law alone, but is distin- guished for a knowledge of underlying principles. His practice has been large, various, and extended. He weighs matters deliberately before action; but, when a conclusion is formed for practical purposes, he then moves with little respect to adverse consequences. In politics he has been a Democrat, and an active partisan, but has generally avoided political office, although he has been supported by his party for public position a number of times. He has been several times a member of the Indiana Legislature; in 1866 he was a candidate for the office of attorney-general, and in 1868 and 1872

he was on the Democratic ticket as a candidate for elector for the state at large. Each time he made a public canvass of the state, and his speeches were re- markable for their clearness and force. In 1878 he was the unanimous choice of his party for Congress, but de- clined on account of his private business. On the 24th of March, 1864, he was married to Susan Randolph, by whom he has had two children, a son and a daughter.

ULVER, PRIMUS P., deputy collector of internal revenue, Lafayette, Indiana, was born in Tippe- canoe County, Indiana, February 24, 1851, and although now but twenty-nine years of age he has for several years filled many positions of .mportance and responsibility. He is the son of Moses Crane and Melinda (Earl) Culver. His father is an old and re- spected citizen of Tippecanoe County, and for many years represented that county in one or the other branches of the state Legislature. The son was reared on a farm, but his early inclinations were decidedly averse to so quiet a life, and, as experience has shown, his tastes and talents were far better adapted to more active business pursuits. His early education was only such as was afforded by the common schools of the state. Long before he had attained the requisite age he enlisted several times in the Union service, but was as often, by the efforts of his father and friends, brought home, until, finding all opposition useless, his father consented, and he enlisted, during the last year of the war, when not over fourteen years of age, in Company G, 72d Regiment Indiana Volunteers, A. O. Miller being colonel. He made a brilliant and enviable record, and was highly complimented by General Wilder for his fearlessness and bravery in the execution of very hazardous undertakings, though the youngest member of the regiment. His first public position was that of deputy auditor of the county, November 6, 1870. Whilst serving in that capacity he was elected assistant secretary of the state Senate, in November, 1872, and re-elected at the regular session in January, 1873. He was elected county auditor in October, 1874, taking the office the November following and holding it four years. During that time he made a complete and valuable abstract of the real estate of the county. In 1879 he was appointed to the office he now holds, of deputy collector of internal revenue for the Seventh District. December 23, 1874, he married Miss Salina A. Black, daughter of Samuel A. Black, Esq., deceased. They have two children, a son and a daughter. He is an active, influential Republican, and one of the foremost leaders of the party in his section of the state. With the advantages of youth, an established character for in-

John F. Goffroth.

RODandson ,

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tegrity, and an honorable and unblemished record, he is destined to exert a wide and beneficial influence among his fellow-men.

AVIDSON, ROBERT PARKS, a prominent law- yer of Lafayette, a descendant of one of the oldest families of Kentucky, was born in that common- wealth, on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1826. The progenitors of the family in Kentucky were both men of prominence and worth. James Parks, the ma- ternal grandfather, was identified as Representative and state Senator with the political history of the state; while Thomas Davidson, the paternal grandfather, was no less prominent in private life, and died, as he lived, without fear and without reproach. He was also re- garded as a man of great personal courage-a notable distinction in a land where men are proverbial for pluck and bravery. The death of his father while Robert was yet an infant compelled the mother to return to her father's roof. To this earnest Christian woman Robert was devotedly attached, and to her careful training is largely indebted for that high sense of honor and spotless integrity which have characterized his ac- tions through life. At the age of fourteen he was placed in an academy, where he was prepared for col- lege. He entered Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in the spring of 1845, where he remained from his fresh- man to his senior year. He then changed to Center College, Kentucky, and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1848. Two years later he received the second degree of M. A. He decided upon the profession of the law as his life work, and was licensed to practice in February, 1851. He immediately located in Frank- fort, where he remained for a period of twelve years, when, wishing to enlarge the sphere of his operations, he removed to Lafayette, where he still continues to reside. Although educated in the Democratic school of politics, at a time when party feeling ran high, Mr. Davidson was never an intense partisan. He gave Mr. Douglas his earnest support in the memorable canvass of 1860; and some months later, when traitors and demagogues in the South attempted the dismemberment of the Union, he threw the weight of his influence upon the side of the government. By Governor Mor- ton he was appointed draft commissioner of Clinton County in 1862; and after the restoration of peace resumed his relations with the Democratic party. With no particular political aspirations, Mr. Davidson has never been an office-seeker. He, however, held the office of district prosecuting attorney for four years; was Common Pleas Judge for the district composed of Clinton and Carroll Counties; and represented Tippe- canoe County in the Lower House in the session of 1870-72. His chief ambition is to stand in the front

[ rank of his profession, and to this end he has bent every energy and toiled unceasingly. That he has suc- ceeded is clearly evidenced by the reputation he enjoys among his brethren. Personally, he is a warm and true friend. Fearlessness is one of the most marked traits of his character. He never shuns bearing the re- sponsibility of any of his actions, but does what he considers his duty, no matter what the consequences. Above all, throughout his whole life, he has been a man of unswerving integrity and unblemished honor; and he will do nothing which could lower himself in his own esteem or that of others. His standard is high; and when he believes himself in the right no power on earth can divert him from the path which honor and good judgment point out. He possesses a moderate for- tune, and is ever ready to contribute to all objects, whether charitable, religious, political, or literary, which cleserve his support. He is foremost in advancing by pen or purse all projects which can benefit or increase the prosperity of his adopted city. He married, May 15, 1849, Miss Jennie S., daughter of Rev. Joseph Clay- baugh, D. D., professor of theology in the Theological Seminary at Oxford, Ohio. They have seven children, two daughters and five sons; the eldest, Joseph C., is associated with his father in the practice of law, under the firm name of R. P. & J. C. Davidson; the second son is a law student in their office, while the third is official stenographer of the courts of that county.

UZAN, GEORGE N., physician and surgeon, Zionsville, Indiana, was born in Boone County, Indiana, July 8, 1842. He is the third son of 2. Hon. John and Catherine (Cox) Duzan. His father was a prominent farmer and miller of Boone County in its early days, and had the honor of represent- ing the county in the state Legislature. The Doctor obtained his early education in the common schools at Zionsville, alternating his studies with work on the farm in summer. In 1858 he began the study of medicine with his uncle, Doctor W. N. Duzan, with whom he studied for three years, and then entered the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, in the fall of 1861. In the spring of 1862 he commenced practice at Zions- ville, and continued until 1864, when he entered the army as acting assistant surgeon of the United States army. He was on detached duty most of the time of his service in the army, and was assigned to United States Hospital No. 8, Nashville, Tennessee. While here he attended lectures at the University of Nash- ville, from which he graduated in 1865. In May of the same year he returned to Zionsville, and resumed prac- tice, and by close application he has built up a fine business, and is reputed as one of the most successful

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physicians in the county, and has the largest practice of ' baptism of blood, twenty-six of its sixty-two members any physician in Zionsville. August 31, 1865, he mar- being killed and wounded. Captain Doxey was taken prisoner, but, being soon exchanged, resumed command of his company, and met the enemy again and again, at Arkansas Post, Fort Gibson, Laurel Hill, Raymond, Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, and in that awful charge of May 22, 1863, on the intrenchments of Vicks- burg. The remaining part of his military record is quoted from a published article commemorative of his gallant services: ried Miss Nellie Crutchfield, of Indianapolis, by whom he has one son. The Doctor's religious opinions are of a materialistic tendency. Politically, he votes and works with the Democratic party. He has been for many years a member of the Independent Order of Odd-fel- lows, is a member of the Boone County Medical Society, and of the State Medical Society. He has also been twice appointed delegate to the American Medical Association, and his standing with the profession is greatly above the average. As a citizen, he is highly respected, and he is a popular man in his community.

OXEY, MAJOR CHARLES T., of Anderson, was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, July 13, 1841. His parents were William and Katherine Doxey. The former was a native of South Car- olina and of French descent. When Charles was but a child the father died, and the family were left in such straitened circumstances that he was compelled to do chores and other light work on neighboring farms, and was deprived for several years of the privilege of attend- ing school. When he had attained the age of fourteen his mother, at his solicitation, removed with the family to Minnesota. There he remained for about one year, employed in hard farm labor, giving with filial affection a part of his earnings to his mother. But at length, determined to gratify his long cherished desire for an education, he made his way to Fairbury, Illinois, and, having engaged with a farmer to work for his board, began attending a district school. Here he studied with great diligence, and to earn the money needed for books and clothing, toiled hard on the farm, even by moon- light. In this manner he persevered for three years, until he had acquired a knowledge of the common branches. The year 1861 found him engaged, at thir- teen dollars per month, at a warehouse at Attica in this state. Then followed a new era in his life. His youth- ful energies, which had been exerted only in self-sup- port, were to be displayed with tenfold force in defense of an imperiled nation, for the hostile guns of Charles- ton had roused the peace-loving North to the stern arbitration of arms. Enlisting as a private in the 19th Indiana Volunteers, he served as such and as orderly sergeant until November 23 of that year, when he was commissioned sergeant-major; again, on the 9th of the following month, he received a commission, as second lieutenant. In February, 1862, Lieutenant Doxey resigned, and, returning home, organized a com- pany for the 16th Regiment, of which he was made captain. The battle of Richmond, Kentucky, soon followed, and it proved, especially to his company, a

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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 48

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