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 73

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 73

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

established the Marion Journal, and also continued the practice of law, in which he has ever since been en- gaged. He is a stanch Democrat, and has rendered his party important service as a speaker. Though never a petitioner for office, and even averse to becoming a candidate, he has been called to serve the public in positions of honor and responsibility. In 1852 he was a presidential elector ; but declined all official positions from that time until 1862, when he accepted the nomi- nation for Representative in Congress from the Eleventh District, and after an interesting canvass, in which he discussed at numerous political meetings the important questions then at issue, he was elected. Ten years later he became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis. Mr. McDowell is president of the Marion and Kokomo Narrow Gauge and of the Frankfort, Toledo and St. Louis Railroads; and he has aided every enterprise promotive of the material pros- perity and the educational advancement of the citizens of Marion. With regard to religion, he is a firm be- liever in Christianity, but is not connected with any denomination. His family are members of the Chris- tian Church. James F. McDowell is one of the best political speakers in his Congressional District, and has taken active part in several campaigns. His success in the legal profession is due in a great measure to his oratorical powers. In 1875, in the murder case of West vs. McMath, he was employed by the prosecution, and his speech before the jury was pronounced the best ever made in the Grant County court-house. Al- though specially adapted to advocacy, he does not neg- lect the other duties of his profession, and in all respects is an able lawyer. He is very popular with the masses, and has many warm personal friends among his peers. Mr. McDowell married, in 1848, Miss Annie, daughter of Rev. George Adams, of Ohio, a Disciple clergyman. He is a man of strong domestic attachments, devoting himself to the welfare of his family, especially to the education of his children, who are six in number, two daughters and four sons, one of whom, George L., is now his partner in the practice of law. He has lost by death one daughter, Annie Jessie, born June 22, 1862, who died January 2, 1879.

OORE, SAMUEL, late of Huntington, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1809. His father died when he was two years old, leav- ing a widow and four children in straitened cir- cumstances. At nine years of age Mr. Moore found a home among strangers. Here he was obliged to rise at four in the morning, feed the stock, chop wood, and drive oxen, summer and winter, enduring untold hard- ships, until he was fourteen years old. During this time

Yours truly

Modul

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

11th Dist.]

he was sent to school for three months of one winter, 1 made him sometimes the victim of dishonest designs, and the only educational advantage he ever enjoyed. His his gains passed from under his very eye without awak- ening suspicion. At his death he was in only moderate circumstances, yet there is not a tear or a stain upon aught that he bequeathed to his family. His example, embodied in a long and blameless life, and holy, peace- ful death, is an imperishable inheritance. He died April 24, 1877, at Huntington, aged sixty-eight years. mother then removed to Clinton County, Indiana. When twenty years of age Mr. Moore became the owner of a wagon and yoke of oxen, with which, as a teamster, he carried supplies from the vicinity of Lafayette to a trading post near Fort Dearborn. On one of these trips he was urged to trade his team for a section of land now occupied by the city of Chicago, but he thought a yoke " Life's rugged path with patient feet he trod, of oxen on dry land was a better possession than a farm True to himself, his fellow-meu, and God." under water; a lost opportunity which verifies the truth of Shakespeare's words: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Mr. Moore first came to Huntington in 1832, while buy- BRIEN, JUDGE JAMES, of Kokomo, son of John and Eleanor (McClughen) O'Brien, was born in Brown County, Ohio, May 8, 1828. His father was a native of Virginia, and was a teacher during early manhood, but finally became a farmer. He died in Marion County, Indiana. The mother of James O'Brien was a native of Pennsylvania. His grandfather was a commissioned officer in the War of 1812, and his great- grandfather was a soldier of the Revolution. The public school, with its admirable system of instruction, in which the pupil passes from the infant class through grade after grade, until he graduates from the high school and is ready for college, was then unknown, and James could prepare for the duties of life, only by mak- ing the best of the opportunities afforded by the com- mon school and useful reading. So earnest was he in the pursuit of knowledge that, after mastering the stud- ies of the common school, he read every book he could obtain, digesting and assimilating its contents, until they became a part of his mental organization. He engaged in teaching, and, meanwhile, in 1849, began the study of law. After eighteen months of diligent application, he became a student of Thomas J. Sample, an attorney in Muncie, and was at length admitted to the bar in Anderson. He commenced practice at Nobles- ville, in the fall of 1852. He remained there until the autumn of 1871, and then removed to Kokomo, which has since been his home. Mr. O'Brien's abilities have not been unrecognized by his fellow-citizens, and he has been called to serve them in various positions of trust. From 1855 to 1859 he was clerk of the Circuit Court at Noblesville. In 1862 he was elected a Representative to the Legislature, and, in 1871, was appointed Judge of the Twenty-second Judicial Circuit, to fill a vacancy, holding the office until 1873, when the new division of ing furs for Hollister & Co., of Buffalo; he packed the furs upon the back of his Indian pony and walked by its side, following the Indian trails that alone marked the forest. In 1833 he settled at Woodworth's, near the forks of the Wabash River, selling provisions to those engaged in the construction of the canal. In June, 1834, he voted at the first election to elect Justices of the Peace for Huntington Township, which is now known as the county of that name. One hundred and forty-seven votes were polled at that election. His mar- riage, in June, 1837, was the first in the county of which any record is found. In 1838 he was elected one of a board of justices, taking the place of county commis- sioners. He subsequently held a post-office appointment under President Fillmore. He was one of three direct- ors who constructed a plank road from Huntington to Liberty Mills. He contributed liberally to every public enterprise ; churches, schools, public roads, every thing tending to material, social, and religious advancement, shared his generosity. But it was as a merchant and citizen that he was best known in Huntington and vicin- ity. Beginning his business career in a little shanty at Woodworth's, he became one of the leading grain and dry-goods merchants of Huntington. For forty years he pursued his chosen work, with unquestioned honesty and tireless industry. The early settlers found in him a friend and helper, loaning money to many of them to make the first payment on their land, giving them credit for food and clothing until their crops were gathered. Hundreds of those who planted their homes in the wil- derness, now blooming like the rose, remember with tears his generous sympathy, and bless his memory. He never oppressed the poor, wronged the widow, or defrauded the fatherless. Although he experienced many business trials and reverses, he never sacrificed the purity : the state into judicial circuits was made. He has taken of his purpose to wreak vengeance on an enemy, and his an active interest in educational matters, and for four years was a trustee of Asbury University. He has been a stockholder in what is now known as the Bee Line Railroad, and has been otherwise identified with the ma- terial development of the country. In 1853 the Judge became a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and was gentleness was never embittered by a betrayal. Quiet, modest, and unassuming, deeds not words revealed the excellence of his character. Although possessing un- usual facilities for amassing a large fortune, he enriched others rather than himself. His unsuspecting confidence

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[uith Dist.

master of the Blue Lodge from 1860 to 1863. ITis relig- tous opinions are in accord with the creed of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, with which he has long been connected. In politics he is a Republican, and has been active in stumping the county for that party. Judge O'Brien was married, May 8, 1854, to Miss Charlotte Louisa Lindsey, daughter of Thomas Lindsey. Seven children have resulted from this union, of whom five are living. From humble circumstances, and through adver- sity, he has risen, unaided, to an honorable position. The material results of such patient, long continued effort have hardly been commensurate with the energy and talent employed, although he has gained a compe- tence. Clear perception, analytical judgment, together with the power to weigh men and evidence, are qualities that appear in the judicial and professional relations of Judge O'Brien. As a man he sustains a reputation in keeping with his position as a lawyer. In social inter- course he is very companionable, and enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends.

ARRISH, BREVET BRIGADIER - GENERAL CHARLES SHERMAN, of Wabash, is one of the most gallant of that number whom posterity, gazing in grateful remembrance down the long, narrowing vista of the past, will view side by side with Washington and his heroic compatriots. General Parrish was born in Columbus, Ohio, May 25, 1830. He is of honorable descent. His father, Judge Orris Parrish, a native of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and of En- glish and German extraction, was a prominent lawyer, very able as an advocate in criminal cases, and was for several years Judge of the Wyandotte District, so called, extending from Columbus to Sandusky City, and con- sisting of twelve counties. His practice became very extensive, embracing the whole district. He was an intimate friend of that able jurist Charles Sherman, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, father of General W. T. Sherman and Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman, in honor of whom he named his son Charles Sherman. His wife, the mother of the subject of this biography, was Aurelia Butler, whom he married about the year 1813. She was born in the state of New York, and was the daughter of Ebenezer Butler, a direct de- scendant of one of the four brothers of that name, who were all prominent officers in the American army during the Revolution. Their ancestors came from Ireland, during the troublous times in the reign of Charles the First. Charles lost his father at the age of eight years. Soon after this sad event the family removed to Delaware, Delaware County, where he attended a select school. Not content with such meager instruc- tion, he longed for better opportunities, and at length

was gratified in becoming a student in the Ohio Wes- leyan University. After remaining there for a time, he took an irregular course at Kenyon College for one year. On leaving college, in 1847, he entered the law office of Judge Searle and the Hon. S. S. Cox, at Zanesville, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1851, after a rigid examination before the Su- preme Court. Circumstances prevented his practicing then more than a few months, but, in the fall of 1852, he removed to Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana, and there continued until September, 1854, when he finally settled in Wabash. In 1856 Mr. Parrish was elected prosecuting attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, embracing seven counties. In 1858, declining a renomination, he entered into partnership with the Hon. James D. Conner. The firm enjoyed a large prac- tice, and it existed until 1861. Mr. Parrish early man- ifested a love for military exercises, and, in 1857, organ- ized the " Wabash Guards." In 1859 they encamped one week, fully organized and equipped, on the Tippe- canoe Battle Ground. Though a holiday company, it was composed of the stuff warriors are made of, for it furnished eighteen officers, besides private soldiers, for the Rebellion. On the morning after the firing upon Fort Sumter began, Mr. Parrish, realizing that the dread necessity of war had come, and that he must draw the sword in battle instead of mere parade, announced his determination to enlist for the defense of the Union, and immediately opened a recruiting office in the law office of the firm, and by the time the call for seventy- five thousand men was issued he had enough recruits for two companies, whom he forwarded to Indianapolis. Of these, one company was soon organized and assigned to the 8th Regiment of Infantry, the others finding their way into other regiments. Mr. Parrish went to the front as captain of this company. On the day of the battle of Rich Mountain, in West Virginia, he was " officer of the day," and, being such, neither he nor his company could engage, it seems, in the fight. Impatient at this restraint, especially as his company was the best in the regiment and also anxious for the fray, Captain Parrish urged the commander to relieve him, which was then done, and with his men he soon mingled in the tide of battle. At the close of the three months' term of serv- ice, he returned to Wabash and recruited two compa- nies for three years, or during the war. With these he reported at Indianapolis for the 8th Regiment, and, on September 5, 1861, was commissioned major. Missouri was then the scene of desperate strife, and thither the 8th was hurried to reinforce the struggling Union forces. They took part in the battle of Springfield, where fell the brave General Lyon, and spent the fall and winter in Missouri. Marching south-west into Arkansas, they engaged in the hard-fought battle of Pea Ridge. Then, crossing the Ozark mountains and pressing eastward,

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

11th Dist.]

they finally reached the Mississippi River in July, 1862. Major Parrish was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in May, 1863. During the spring and early summer of that year, the 8th Regiment participated in the ever memorable siege of Vicksburg, crossing the river below the town, and first meeting the enemy at Port Gibson. In this engage- ment Lieutenant-colonel Parrish acted with distinguished valor. A certain regiment lay at the foot of a hill ex- posed to destructive fire, and he was ordered to reinforce them. On hurrying to their support, he found them, brave men as they were, holding their ground in stern submission to a sense of duty and pride, though defense- less, while the merciless shot tore through their ranks, making the place a slaughter pen. Their commander, supposing the 8th had come to relieve instead of to re- inforce him, withdrew his troops, leaving Lieutenant- colonel Parrish in the same peril, without support. But he was not the man to tamely submit. With that genius that will not be the victim of circumstances, he instantly resolved to change the situation. To lie there was death; to retreat, dishonor. He did not hesitate, but drawing his sword and leaping forward he shouted, "Come on, boys." They followed, and up the steep, through the storm of hurling shot, charged leader and men ; their front a line of firm-set faces and gleaming steel, right onward they went, till they swept into the very smoke and flame of the rebel guns. Then for a moment there was a hand-to-hand struggle, and the foe were sent flying from their intrenchments. For this im- petuous charge which, as was generally declared, turned the tide of battle in favor of the Union forces, General E. A. Carr, of the regular army, recommended Lieu- tenant-colonel Parrish for promotion; but this was not received until March, 1864, when he was commissioned colonel of the 130th Regiment of Infantry. He went into the battle of Port Gibson sick with camp fever, and after the engagement, being worse, was sent to the offi- cers' hospital at Memphis. He received a thirty days' leave of absence to visit home, but declined to avail himself of it, expecting soon to recover and report for duty. On regaining his health he rejoined the 8th Reg- iment, then in the works before Vicksburg, and remained during the siege until the surrender of that stronghold, July 4, 1863. With the command he then went to New Orleans and took part in the expedition up the Teteche River. At its close he returned home on leave of ab- sence, remaining there during the winter of 1864. The next spring, as colonel of the 130th Indiana Infantry, he again went to the front, and marched and fought through all that brilliant campaign, from Resaca to the capture of Atlanta, one hundred days in the almost inces- sant sound of cannon. After the fall of that city Colonel Parrish retraced his steps with the Twenty-third Army , Corps to reinforce General Thomas at Nashville. On approaching the town they came suddenly in sight of or

near the Confederate camp. General Cooper said, " Let us hew our way through; we can do it," to which Colonel Parrish, always ready for a perilous duty, at once assented. But it was six miles to the city and the attempt would be made at fearful cost. It was finally decided to make a wide detour, outflanking the enemy, and enter the city on the opposite side. This was safely done, but required a march of one hundred and twenty- eight miles. When General Hood made his desperate attack upon Nashville, the 130th and their gallant colonel bore an honorable part in its defense. After the place was saved, he was sent with his command, via Louisville and Washington, into North Carolina, where they engaged in the battle of Kingston, and then rejoined General Sherman at Goldsborough, whom they had left at Atlanta just beginning his " march to the sea." Colonel Par- rish was breveted brigadier-general in March, 1865, and placed in command of the western district of North Car- olina, consisting of seven counties, with headquarters at Charlotte. The duties devolving upon him in that sta- tion obliged him to remain in the service eight months after the capitulation of Lee and the close of the war. Finally, December 2, 1865, he was mustered out, and laying by his sword he resumed the labors of peace, engaging again in the practice of law in Wabash. In 1867 the people of Wabash and Kosciusko Counties testified their appreciation of the meritorious service General Parrish had rendered the country by electing him to represent them in the state Senate. He served in that body during the session of 1867 and 1868, and was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. In 1868 he resigned the Senatorship and accepted the ap- pointment of Register in Bankruptcy. But the follow- ing year he resigned that also to fulfill the duties of Inspector of Customs at New Orleans. This position he occupied until 1873, when he returned to Wabash and the work of his profession. In 1878 he was elected mayor of that city, and still holds that office. General Parrish is warmly attached to the Republican party, and takes an active part in stumping his county. In 1877 he joined the temperance movement, and has since given it his hearty support. With reference to his religious opinions, General Parrish is one of that fast increasing number of intelligent people who are called liberals. He was married July 27, 1859, to Annie Cox, daughter of Kev. Samuel J. Cox, a Methodist clergyman, of Zanes- ville, Ohio, and an old pioneer of that place. Three children have been born to them, of whom two are liv- ing : Annie M. and Cornelia J. The other child, Sher- man, died January 1, 1863. In the foregoing the life of General Parrish has been briefly and plainly told. His military career alone, if given in detail, would occupy many pages, and show him, as his comrades tes- tify him to be, one of the bravest and most efficient of army officers. In the important civil positions he has

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

Litth Dist.

held, he has always acquitted himself with credit. He is | Daniel Gott, concerning whom the " Reunion and His- regarded as a man of no small mental caliber, an effect- tory of Pompey " contains the following : ive political speaker, a useful temperance worker, and an experienced and trustworthy lawyer.

ETTIT, JOHN UPFOLD, of Wabash, Judge of the Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit. In this age, when there is so little just discrimination between the true and the false, when shallow assurance is often better appreciated than unpretending merit, it is pleasant to contemplate the career and character of such a man as the subject of this memoir, who, though un- assuming, has not been underestimated by the people, and who, in return for their attachment, has taught them how valuable may be those public services that must be sought for, and are never seen obtrusively displayed, as it were, on the political auction-block. Though a man of unpretentious worth, he possesses that magnetic force that silently attracts men, those mental qualities and personal graces that grapple them to him as with hooks of steel, and that tact and power that make men and events subserve his just purposes. John U. Pettit is a scion from superior stock. In his life-currents are min- gled the sturdy strength of the Scot and the ardor, vi- vacity, and buoyancy of the native of sunny France. Ilis grandfather, Jonathan Pettit, was of French and Scotch descent. Ile lived in New York, upon his farm, between Saratoga and Stillwater. He partici- pated in the two battles fought at those places pre- ceding the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, and thus, being a chaplain, used both Bible and sword in de- fense of American independence. Judge Pettit's father, George Pettit, was a native of Saratoga, New York. Their ancestors were of the Puritan type-industrious, resolute, and sternly religious. His mother, whose maiden name was Jane Upfold, was born at Stepney, England, in 1800. She was a foster-sister of the late Bishop Upfold, of Indianapolis. John U. Pettit was born in Onondaga County, New York, September 11, 1820. In a school in his native village he acquired, before his thirteenth year, such an education as none but a precocious boy could obtain. Then, for about four years, he attended an academy at Pompey Hill, Onondaga County, and another at Cazenovia, Madison County. Having completed the academic course, he went, in 1836, to Hamilton College, then to Union Col- lege, then under the presidency of Doctor Nott, where he graduated in 1839. He had grown up among lead- ing lawyers, and, having thus been inclined to the legal profession, he made that his choice, and even while in college began to prepare for the bar, with Doctor Tel- kampff as his preceptor. On leaving Union, he entered the law school at Pompey, taught by the noted Hon.

"Among the large number of gifted and eminent men who entered the legal profession from his office were Seabred Dodge, Charles Mason, John U. Pettit, Harvey Sheldon, Charles B. Sedgwick, Henry J. Sedg- wick, George H. Williams, Le Roy Morgan, S. H. Hiscock, Charles Foster; and these and all others who were students in his office bear concurrent testimony to his kindness and anxious solicitude for their honor and welfare."

After remaining there about one year, young Pettit went West to visit his sister and her husband, William Corbin, the founder of nearly every Baptist Church in the Upper Wabash Valley. Pleased with the country, he remained in Indiana, and continued his studies in the office of the late Hon. D. D. Pratt, at Logansport. In April, 1841, he was admitted to the bar, and at once removed to Wabash and commenced practice. The lawyer's career is one of strife, in which only the strong and skillful can succeed. The preacher meets with little opposition ; he has but to please those who deem it un- dutiful to be incredulous and critical. The physician may be a mere empiric, and yet eulogized and sup- ported. But the lawyer's work is done in full view of the impartial, Argus-eyed public, a learned judge, a thoughtful jury, and counsel with whom, as wary, trained antagonists, he must try his cause, hilt to hilt. A mind keen and strong, knowledge varied and exten- sive, and a tireless energy must be his, if he would gain the splendid prizes that, far beyond the reach of common mortals, await his grasp. Few young attorneys pursue their studies with such ardor and ready comprehension as did Mr. Pettit. Displaying marked aptitude for all the details of practice, it was not long before his success was assured. Very soon, in 1844, his qualifications and the general tenor of his life had so won the esteem of the people that they elected him, though not yet twenty- four, to represent them in the Lower House of the Legis- lature. In 1850 he was appointed United States Consul to Maranham, Brazil. Proceeding to that country, he was required to act also as vice-consul, which office gave him supervision of the other consulates in the Northern District of Brazil. This devolved upon him responsible duties, but afforded opportunities, which he did not neglect, for acquainting himself with the habits and customs of the people and the many natural objects of interest in that remarkable land. That terrible scourge, the yellow fever, visited Maranham during his stay, and in one evening he saw carried past his window a hun- dred uncoffined corpses, which were left half-buried in the potter's field. In 1852 he returned home; and in January of the year following, Governor Wright ap- pointed him Judge of what was then the Eighth Dis- trict, which contained nine counties. In the summer of 1854, having been already nominated, he resigned,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 73

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