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 72

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 72

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present the cases which he carefully chronicles, and the articles he has written on medical subjects; or trace in detail his efforts to improve the State Medical Society and create its auxiliaries ; but space prevents so great an extension of this sketch. He has indeed been the archi- tect of his own fortunes, and has built upon the broad foundation of intellectual culture and moral principles a goodly superstructure that even death can not destroy.

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ORDEMAN, REV. FATHER FRANCIS, was born in Darfeld, Münster, Germany, January 15, 1850. His parents were William and Theresa (Farwick) Lordeman, both natives of Germany. After attending the primary schools during childhood, he entered an academy at Münster, where he remained twelve years, undergoing that thorough instruction for which German schools are famous. In 1869, impelled by missionary zeal, he came to America, became a stu- dent in the Seminary of St. Francis, in Milwaukee, and there prepared for the ministry. He was ordained Sep- tember 20, 1873, and appointed to his first charge at Kokomo, where he is still engaged. The work assigned to him was very difficult, but he proved himself equal to the situation. He found a mere handful of Church members, without a leader or a house of worship. Un- der his energetic ministry, however, the congregations soon became larger, the membership increased, and in course of time a large church edifice was built ; now about one hundred families are comprised in the charge. His work did not stop here; for, seeing the sad effects of in- temperance among the people, he effectively exerted his influence against it by organizing a total abstinence so- ciety, which to-day is in a flourishing condition. He was also instrumental in building a church in Tipton, and another in Frankfort. Father Lordeman has just begun his career of usefulness. Young, vigorous, pre- possessing in person and manner, highly educated, and endowed with depth and force of character, it may safely be predicted that he will rise to eminence, and exert a potent influence upon the future history of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

YONS, IRA E., M. D., of Huntington, was born in New Castle County, Delaware, January 13, 1822. His education was self-acquired, having no advantages but those afforded by the common dis- trict schools. He removed to Ohio in 1334, read med- icine in Muskingum County, of that state, with Doctors Watkins and Axline; and commenced practicing there in April, 1845. In 1848 he went to Iowa, practiced med- icine, and taught school in Burlington one year, and

opened and organized the first public school in the place. In the spring of 1849 he returned to Ohio, and continued to practice there until 1855, when he removed to Huntington County, Indiana, settling in the village of Warren. He remained there until 1863, and then entered Rush Medical College, at Chicago, from which he graduated in 1864. He then returned to Hunting- ton County and settled in Huntington, where he still resides, engaged in the practice of his profession. He is a member of the State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association, and was one of the Huntington County Medical Society during its exist- ence. He belongs to the Democratic party. July 16, 1846, he married, in Muskingum County, Ohio, Miss Frances Jane Griggsby, a native of Virginia, who was born at Leesburg, May 24, 1824. They have three children, one son and two daughters. The son, W. L. H. Lyons, is in the drug business at Newport, Arkansas ; and the eldest daughter is in the millinery business in the same place. Doctor Lyons is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Huntington.

YONS, WILLIAM B., M. D., of Huntington, was born in New Castle County, Delaware, Septem- ber 2, 1818. His father, Ira E. Lyons, a soldier in the War of 1812, was a farmer, and removed in 1834 to Ohio, where he afterward died. His grand- father, Patrick Lyons, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, died of wounds received at the battle of Brandy- wine. The early education of William Lyons was such as the common schools of Delaware afforded. At the age of sixteen he removed with his father to Perry Center, Ohio, and one year later began teaching school, at the same time studying medicine. He subsequently attended lectures at the Ohio Medical College, in Cin- cinnati, and also at Rush Medical College, Chicago, where he received the degree of M. D. In 1851 he re- moved to Huntington, Indiana, and there entered upon the duties of his profession. His practice, from the beginning, has been very successful, increasing with the growth of the place. Doctor Lyons was a Whig until the dissolution of that party, in 1854, and since then has acted with the Democrats. He has been a member of the common council of Huntington ; but has never sought political fame or office, preferring to devote his time to his profession. He became a member of the American Medical Association in 1856, and is a member of the Indiana State Medical Society, of which he was elected vice-president in May, 1874. In 1876 the degree of doctor of medicine was conferred on him by the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons of Indiana. In 1862 he was appointed, by Governor Morton, examining sur- geon of Huntington County, to examine men for the

Very Truly yours 3. J. March

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draft made that year. He is an elder in the Presby- of his paper, and, with a good run of advertisements, has made some money, which he has invested in town real estate. In 1869 he built a large two-story brick terian Church of Huntington, of which he has been a member about twenty - five years. He belongs to the Masonic Fraternity ; has been Master of the lodge , business house, the finest in the county. He is a eleven years, and High Priest of the chapter thirteen radical Republican, a strong temperance man, and a member in good standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a citizen, he is public-spirited, and takes a leading part in all that pertains to the good of his fellow-men, giving liberally of his means for missionary work and other purposes. consecutive years. He is a member of Fort Wayne Commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar ; and also of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, up to and includ- ing the thirty-second degree. Doctor Lyons married, March 24, 1842, Miss Mary A. Ream, in Perry County, Ohio. They have three sons; the two eldest, George F. and Ira A., are physicians, the latter being an ocu- list and aurist in Indianapolis. The youngest son, Will- iam B., is learning the drug business. Doctor Lyons stands at the head of the medical profession. He is benevolent, kind, and affable, temperate in every thing, with no bad habits, and is in every way a model gen- tleman.

ARSH, ELIAS J., of Portland, editor and pro- prietor of the Portland Commercial, a Republican paper, was born, November 9, 1846, in Hancock County, Indiana. William Marsh, his father, was a farmer in limited circumstances, and a member in high standing in the fraternity of Friends. He died in 1862. Martha Ann, his wife, was a native of Virginia. They reared a family of six children, of whom Elias and Margaret, now Mrs. Beson, were twins. The family being poor, and Elias's father dying when he was only sixteen years of age, he was obliged to work for their maintenance. For this reason, and from the fact that he had only a country school to attend, the education he received was meager. At sixteen years of age he left home, and entered upon an apprenticeship in a printing-office at Greenfield, Indiana, where he remained for two years. In 1864 he went to Indianapolis, and completed his course of apprenticeship; and in 1869 commenced an enterprise with his brother-in-law, Mr. Beson, buying out the Winchester Journal. In 1871 he came to Portland, and purchased the Jay and Adams Republican, since which time he has had control of that paper as editor and proprietor. In 1869 he was mar- ried to Miss Anna B. Peck, of Sedgwick, Kansas, and this was the first white couple ever joined in wedlock in the county after its organization. His youngest brother, now of the Winchester Normal School, and principal of the Lynn graded schools, is a young man of promise. Mr. Marsh began life single-handed, and, in addition, he assisted in supporting his father's family while he was learning his trade. As an apprentice, his wages were not large; but by being careful and eco- nomical, husbanding and investing his means, he has been successful financially. He has by diligence in 'business succeeded in doubling the subscription - list E-6

¡AVITY, WILLIAM K., M. D., of Kokomo, was born in Ripley County, Indiana, January 27, 1839, and is the son of David J. and Lorana (Davis) Mavity. His father, a native of Vir- ginia, was a lineal descendant of William Mavity, a soldier in the army of William, Prince of Orange, hav- ing entered England with that sovereign, and serving under his victorious banner in Ireland. At the close of the war, this officer settled in Ireland; and there passed the remainder of his days. Though he lived unharmed, the bitterness engendered by the war in which he had engaged was not abated, and his son, when a child, was made to feel its effects. At his mother's funeral he was strangled by the Papists; they supposed him dead ; and, so intense was their hatred of Protestants, and especially of those whose ancestors had fought against Catholicism, that it was necessary to conceal the fact of his recovery, and rear him in secret. He grew to manhood, married, and had one son, grandfather of William K. Mavity, who, because of religious dissensions in Ireland, emi- grated with his father to America, and served as a ser- geant-major in our Revolution. William K. Mavity, the subject of this biography, was educated, primarily, in the schools of his native county, and in the high school of Jennings County. He applied himself to his studies with diligence and ready comprehension; and, at the early age of sixteen, began teaching. This occupation was continued at intervals, alternating with attendance at the high school, until 1858, when he commenced reading medicine in the office of R. P. Haz- zard, now of Edinburg, in this state. He subsequently attended a course of lectures at the College of Medicine and Surgery, in Cincinnati; graduated from the medical department of the university at Nashville; and, again, in 1865, from the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadel- phia. In February, 1863, Doctor Mavity entered the Union army as acting assistant surgeon, and was as- signed to duty in Hospital No. 12, Nashville, where he remained till October of that year. He was then trans- ferred to the Cumberland Hospital, in which he was engaged until July, 1864, when his services were required in the Haddington Hospital, at Philadelphia, just after

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the battle of the Wilderness. On leaving that city he fixed his residence in Kokomo, Indiana, and engaged in the practice of his profession, in partnership with Doc- tor J. S. White. In October, 1865, the firm was dis- solved by the death of Doctor White, and about two years after he entered into a similar relation with Doc- tors Johnson and Scott, with whom he remained one year. He then opened an office alone, and has since continued in active practice. His valuable experience as an army surgeon has enabled him to make surgery a specialty, and to acquire an enviable reputation in that depart- ment of professional work. Doctor Mavity has been chairman of the city board of health for the past three years; and was elected president of the Howard County Medical Society in 1876, and again in 1877. He is also a member of the Kokomo Academy of the Indiana State Medical Society, and of the American Medical Associa- tion. He is connected with the Independent Order of Odd-fellows. He is a member of the Congregational Church. In politics he is a Republican ; though, previ- ous to Lincoln's administration, he voted the Democratic ticket. Doctor Mavity was united in marriage, Decem- ber 30, 1868, to Miss L. Anna Smith, of Clarksville, Ohio, by whom he has had three children. One of these, their little daughter Josie, died at the age of three years and two months. As a physician and surgeon, Doctor Mavity has few superiors in Northern Indiana. He makes diagnoses readily ; has had long and varied experience, and possesses a thorough knowledge of ma- teria medica and pathology. In surgery, as already stated, he is particularly skilled, performing the most difficult operations with success. In public duties and in social life, he sustains an estimable character, and manifests a kind and affectionate spirit in the sacred precincts of home.

cCLURE, SAMUEL, of Marion, one of the pioneers of Indiana, was born in Shelby County, Ohio, November 16, 1807, and is the son of Sam- uel and Mary (Stewart) McClure. His great- grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Richmond, Virginia; here his grandfather, Robert McClure, was born, and about the year 1770 removed to Newberry District, South Carolina. In that state the parents of Mr. McClure were born-the mother of Irish descent through her father, and of English parentage on the maternal side. In ISoo, the year of their marriage, they emigrated to Ohio, then the North-west Territory, and settled near Dayton, on the Little Miami. After five years, they removed to Shelby County, of that state, and remained there until the beginning of the War of 1812, when they went back to South Carolina. Return- ing in the fall of 1813 to Ohio, when his son, Samuel McClure, was about six years of age, Mr. McClure and

his team were pressed into the United States service and taken to Fort St. Mary's, which fort and block- house he helped build. In the spring of 1815 he again returned to Shelby County, continuing there until Christmas, 1826, when he removed into Indiana, settling upon the present site of Wabash. After a time he fixed his home in Grant County, where he built, in 1827 and 1828, the first mill known on the Mississinewa within the limits of that county. After conducting the milling business successfully for several years, he returned to Wabash, and there died, September 22, 1838. His wife died May 27th of the succeeding year. Samuel McClure, the immediate subject of this sketch, lived with his fa- ther until the spring of 1828, when he entered the em- ployment of W. G. & G. W. Ewing, Indian traders, in order to learn that business. In the fall of the same year he obtained from them a small stock of goods; and, having built on the Wabash, two and a half miles above the mouth of the Mississinewa, a log-cabin for a store and another for a dwelling, he commenced trading with the Indians, of whom there were about eighteen hundred along the above- named rivers. This, for so young a man, was an important undertaking, and one not unattended with danger; but he proved himself equal to the situation. He learned their language so as to speak it fluently, won their confidence and good will, and carried on a prosperous trade with them. His dusky patrons made all their purchases during the win- ter, so Mr. McClure worked on his father's farm during the summer seasons. The farm was three miles below Wabash, and there he transferred his trading-post in 1833. In that year Mr. McClure and his brother Robert cut out the first state road through Wabash County, at seven dollars and fifty-eight cents per mile. In Febru- ary, 1834, he removed to Grant County, and there en- gaged in the sale of general merchandise, his customers being both whites and Indians, most of the latter be- longing to the Mishingomesia band. His first stock of goods from New York was obtained through the assist- ance of his wife's uncle, J. G. Furrow, then a merchant in Piqua, Ohio. His next invoice was bought in Day- ton ; and he met his obligations so promptly as to gain all desired credit in that city. He continued the mer- cantile trade in Marion for many years, and then retired from active business life. In his intercourse with the Indians Mr. McClure not only dealt honestly in trade, . but even labored to protect their interests. They re- posed unlimited confidence in his friendship, ability, and integrity; and, as he had a thorough knowledge of their needs and just claims, they intrusted all their affairs to him. He went a number of times to Wash- ington, to intercede with the government in their be- half, and, with the aid of Mr. Miller, secured the pay- ment of their annuity at Peru, Indiana. In 1853, with Mr. Miller and a delegation of the Miami Indians,

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he assisted in taking a census of all that tribe. He ren- dered important aid in making the treaty of 1854, and in securing the act for the partition of the Mishingome- sia Reservation in 1872. His efforts in behalf of the Indians have been wisely directed, and have conferred upon them lasting benefits. Mr. McClure married, Jan- uary 10, 1833, Miss Susannah Furrow, daughter of James Furrow, of Fort Laramie, Ohio. Of six children born to them, three are now living-Eliza J., Rosetta, and Erastus P. The life of Samuel McClure is closely allied with the history of Indiana, in the development of her material resources. He is one of those brave, indomita- ble spirits to whom this generation is indebted for the transformation of the wilderness into the cultivated state. As all his youth was passed on the borders, he enjoyed no educational advantages; but nature has en- dowed him with strong characteristics that have made him efficient for the mission he was to fulfill. He is now a man of large wealth, the owner of nine hundred acres of land in Grant County, with valuable city prop- erty in Marion, and in Toledo, Ohio. He has done much to confer blessings upon an oppressed race, and to extend the benefits of civilization.

but, owing to the wrangling and ignorance in the profession, he decided to study law. He worked with great energy, and on the 27th of October, 1835, at the head of a class of nine, one of whom was Edwin M. Stanton, was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of Ohio. On the same day he was married to Sarah L. Ridgway, who died November 20, 1870. August 12, 1873, he married Mrs. Maria L. Cavender, daughter of Marshall Humphrey. Colonel Milligan always had a taste for farm work. In 1846 he removed to Indiana, and attempted to clear a farm. As he suffered from epilepsy, however, he was compelled to abandon it, and in 1853 returned to the practice of law. He soon be- came one of the foremost members of his profession-in important cases always losing sight of self in the inter- est of his clients. He never was a politician, and is too frank to make a successful one. He was an ardent op- poser of the late war, and freely expressed his views of the result. For this he was arrested, tried by a military commission, and sentenced to be hanged. His sentence was commuted by Secretary Stanton to imprisonment for life. Colonel Milligan, however, denied the jurisdiction of the commission, and sued out a habeas corpus, which was certified on division to the Supreme Court of the United States. While it was there many overtures were made by the administration to induce him to dismiss the case. He was offered pardon for himself and all impli- cated, but answered that he wanted no pardon, for he had done nothing which he would not repeat; and, after eighteen months' imprisonment, the Supreme Court de- cided that the commission had no jurisdiction of his person. On his return home he received the greatest ovation ever given to any man in the state. He is held in high esteem by his neighbors and fellow - lawyers. Colonel Milligan is tall, straight, and broad-shouldered, with a fair complexion, light hair, and blue eyes. He enjoys vigorous health, having been little affected by age.

ILLIGAN, COLONEL LAMBDIN P., of Hunt- ington, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, March 24, 1812. His ancestors emigrated to Maryland with Lord Baltimore's colony. His father, Moses Milligan, was born in Baltimore, and at the age of thirteen entered the Revolutionary ermy, where he remained until the close of the war. He was afterward in the border war with the Indians along the Ohio River, at Wheeling, Marietta, and elsewhere. In 1794 he married Mary Purday. She was in the block- house at Wheeling when it was attacked by Indians. Her brother, Robert Purday, and his family were mas- sacred by Indians four miles east of Wheeling, Vir- ginia. Her father, John Purday, was in the British army, and belonged to one of the cavalry regiments TOCK, LEVI, attorney-at-law, Bluffton, was born in Randolph County, Indiana, April 20, 1840. He is the son of Emsley (and Ruth) Mock, a man of great size and strength, standing six feet five and a half inches, and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds, who was a farmer and one of the earliest settlers in Randolph. Levi received his early education in the common schools of Randolph County, then at the Farmers' Academy, Jay County, and at the seminary at Winchester, leaving there in 1863, when he farmed for three years. He then began reading law with E. L. Watson, of Winchester, for two years. July 1, 1868, he removed to Bluffton and entered upon the practice of his profession. In October, 1869, he formed known as the Irish Grays. Colonel Milligan's early education was limited to a few months' attendance at a subscription school before he was eight years old. His father, being fond of reading, had a good library for that day; and at an early age Colonel Milligan showed a taste for reading. Upon condition of good conduct and faithful labor until he was eighteen, his father promised to educate him for the medical pro- fession. When the time arrived, however, his mother remonstrated against elevating, as she supposed, one of the children above the rest; and, yielding to her desire, his father proposed to compensate in money and land. Refusing this offer, Colonel Milligan left , home, intending to qualify himself to study medicine; | a partnership with J. S. Dailey, the firm being Dailey

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& Mock, it being now the representative law firm of Bluffton. On the 15th of August, 1862, he enlisted as a volunteer in the 84th Indiana, but, on account of sick- ness, was discharged in April, 1863. A sturdy Demo- crat, he was elected mayor of Bluffton in March, 1869, and re-elected in 1870, 1871, and 1872. He was again re-elected in 1873 for the term of two years (the char- ter having been changed, meantime, making the term of office two years), and also in 1875. He is president of the Agricultural Society of Wells County. He joined the Masonic Order in 1870, in which he has taken seven degrees. In religion he is liberal in his views. Novem- ber 19, 1871, he was married to Rebecca C. Patterson, daughter of Samuel Patterson, one of the early settlers of Wells County. They have three boys. Mr. Mock is a man of fine personal appearance, standing six feet six inches, of splendid presence, courteous, and social. He is a lawyer of high standing, and enjoys a successful business, and is a man who has studied hard and prof- Ited thereby.

cDOWELL, JAMES FOSTER, of Marion, was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1825, and is the son of Thomas J. and Nancy (Bell) McDowell. In the paternal line he is of Scotch-Irish extraction. James McDowell, his grandfa- ther, served in the Revolutionary army, and all his ances- tors were true patriots. His father died in 1850, of cholera, near Chimney Rock, Wyoming, while en route to Cali- fornia. The educational advantages afforded to James F. McDowell in boyhood were indeed few. He attended a common school for a time, but at the early age of eleven obtained a situation in a printing-office in Greenville, Ohio. Craving knowledge, he at length determined to supply so far as possible, by severe study during leisure, the deficiencies in his education. Accordingly, he took private lessons of Judge Beers, of that place, in all the common branches. In these he made very satisfactory progress, but did not stop here ; for he had long desired to become a lawyer, and at the first opportunity he en- tered upon a course of legal study, under the instruction of General Bell, of Ohio. He read law until 1846, when, at the age of twenty-one, he was admitted to the bar. During all this time Mr. McDowell worked more or less at his trade, having no other means of support ; and in 1847, although he had begun to practice law, he established the Greenville Herald. His vigorous mind, which all the unfavorable influences of early life could not enfecble, was now actively employed in the twofold labors of lawyer and editor. His work, his talents, and the general character of his intercourse with the public, made him very popular; and in 1848 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Darke County. In April, 1851, Mr. McDowell removed to Marion, Indiana, where he

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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 72

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