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 92
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graduated from this institution, and in July, 1866, re- temperance movement, as well as all other reforms, finds in him an earnest advocate and a warm sympathizer. He is a Mason, of the Royal Arch degree. October 15, 1868, he married Miss Mary Cunningham, daughter of Levi Cunningham, a prominent citizen of Bryan, Ohio, and a sister of the wife of Hon. E. Foster, of that place. They have one daughter, Mabel, born May 16, 1870, and one son, Walter C., born February 11, 1873. turned to Waterloo, much improved in health and sight, and began the practice of his profession. Soon after he was nominated as Representative to the Legislature, and personally canvassed his district. Although it was then Democratic by a small majority, his election was secured by a flattering vote. In the discharge of his duties as Representative he was regarded as industrious, able, and conscientious. At the close of the session he re- turned to Waterloo and resumed the practice of law. The following October he was elected Prosecuting At- torney of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, comprising ENDRY, ALANSON W., a farmer and prominent citizen of Angola, Steuben County, Indiana, was born March 22, 1820, in Erie County, New York. His parents, Samuel and Eunice (Foot) Hendry, were natives of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The latter was of English descent, and the father of Scotch extraction. Thomas Hendry, the first of that name in America, lived at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1740. His son James removed to Harpersfield, New York, and was on the frontier during the bloody conflict be- tween the pioneers and the Indians during the Revolu- tionary War, finally being killed by them and the Tories. His son Samuel was the father of Alanson W. Hendry. He was by occupation a blacksmith, and settled about eighteen miles from Buffalo, New York, at Eden Valley, where the son was born. He resided there until 1828, when the family removed to Geneva, Ashtabula County, Ohio, remaining one year; thence to Portage County, and stopped the same length of time, when they went to Twinsborough, Cuyahoga County, staying for about eighteen months; after which they went to Wellington, Lorain County, where the blacksmith's business was con- tinued for three years. In 1834 they removed to Carlisle, purchasing a tract of wild timber land, and, in connection with blacksmithing, engaged in clearing and improving it. Mr. Hendry remained with his father until his majority, attending common district schools winters, and assisting in and about the shop and farm work in summer, dur- ing which he had become master of a good English education. In 1841 he began reading law in the office and under the instructions of J. D. Benedict, at Elyria, Ohio. Being entirely dependent upon self-effort, and beginning life's conflict without means, he taught school in the winters, to gain time for study the remainder of the year. In the fall of 1842 he came to Indiana, and located at Orland, Steuben County, where he taught school during the winter of 1842 and 1843. The fol- lowing April, having been admitted to the bar, he be- gan his profession at Angola, which he continued until 1865, with a steadily growing practice and an increasing popularity. As a lawyer, he always occupied a dis- tinguished position among his professional brethren. In 1850, in connection with the practice of law, he engaged the counties of De Kalb, Steuben, Noble, Lagrange, Elkhart, and Kosciusko, serving for three years. The duties of the office, extending over so large a district, and a period of time following so close upon the dis- charge of the vast armies of the Civil War, made the labors varied and excessive, flooding the courts with criminal cases, all of which Mr. Hartman prosecuted personally, with notable success. In addition to these duties he retained his office at Waterloo, where, with the assistance of J. L. Morlan, who became associated with him in January, 1868, he conducted a large prac- tice. In February, 1871, Mr. Hartman sold his business at Waterloo to McBride & Morlan, and removed to South Bend, where he practiced law until July, 1873. He then came to Auburn, and formed a business con- nection with J. E. Rose, which is now numbered among the first law firms in Northern Indiana. For probity, ability, and fair dealing, its reputation is second to that of none in the country. As a lawyer, Mr. Hartman has been eminently successful. His early habits of in- dustry, his thorough and intelligent research, his intense application and determination to succeed, have readily secured the confidence of the business men of his com- munity, who freely intrust to him the protection of their interests; and he enjoys not only their esteem, but that of the influential men of neighboring cities. The careful preparation and good conduct of his cases, his efforts to secure justice to his clients, his self-control, eloquence, and, above all, his fairness and integrity, make him an advocate of strong, convincing power. His method is direct and his manners pleasing. While ex- celling as an advocate, he possesses high merits as a counselor, for which his familiarity with the science of law, his good sense and judgment, and the judicial and independent character of his mind eminently fit him. Mr. Ilartman is a pronounced Republican, active and zealous in the interests of the party. be- lieving that it represents the only true principles of a free government. He is an honored member of the Presbyterian Church of Auburn, in which he has been for many years one of the board of trustees, and an elder since 1873. The material and moral necessities of the Church receive from him valuable support. The in agricultural pursuits, which he continued until he
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closed his days at the bar, since which his attention has been directed more to cultivating his farms, of which he owns two, one adjoining the city of Angola on the Suuth, the other lying about one mile further in the same direction, and comprising together something over four hundred acres. Both are desirable for their loca- tion, and valuable for their improvements, high state of cultivation, and quality of soil. In 1865 he engaged in merchandizing in Angola, continuing the trade until 1870. Mr. Hendry has been, on the whole, successful financially, and is now in the enjoyment of an ample competence. He was one of the leading spirits in the construction of the Fort Wayne, Jackson and Saginaw Railroad, and exerted a potent influence in securing its location through Angola. To its support he contributed generously of his means, as well as time and influence. He was industrious and effective in the work of secur- ing its right of way, and in obtaining and collecting subscriptions, and in many ways the company and com- munity are indebted to him for his able and energetic services in the interest of the road. Mr. Hendry is always in the front rank with those advocating improve- ments calculated to promote the best interests of his town and county. In politics he is a pronounced Re- publican, firm and uncompromising in the support and defense of his political convictions, active in the work, and liberal in his contributions of money and time to- wards the success of his party. He is not, however, a mere follower of the machine. While he has served the people in positions of honor and trust, it has been from the choice of the people more than through his own seeking. In 1852 he was the candidate of the Whig party for state Senator from the district comprising the counties of Steuben and De Kalb. Notwithstanding his party was usually seven hundred in the minority in the district, his election was secured by about eighty- five votes. In 1856 he was re-elected to the position, giving him eight successive years of service in the Senate. In the discharge of his duties he was industrious, ener- getic, and conscientious. In 1854 he was active in his efforts to prevent Lieutenant - governor Willard, then president of the Senate, from organizing that body on a fraudulent basis for the purpose of securing a Demo- cratic majority. While a member of the Senate he was an efficient member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Elections, and on Education. In religious matters Mr. Hendry may be classed as unorthodox, believing that to do good and live purely constitutes a good and safe religion. June 15, 1847, he was united in marriage to Miss Louisa, daughter of Judge Thomas Gale, of Angola, Steuben County, Indiana. He was the leading pioneer of the counties of Steuben and Lagrange, having located the land upon which the town of Angola now stands in 1831, where he settled, and subsequently di- vided it into building lots. Ile was a man of marked
ability and influence in his town and county, and at dif- ferent times received at the hands of the people positions of official honor and trust. He was three years Judge of the Circuit Court; in 1836 and 1837 he represented Steuben and Lagrange in the Legislature ; and received other expressions of favor and confidence from the public, being regarded as a leader among his friends and neighbors in matters pertaining to the welfare and prosperity of his town, county, and state. He died, January 23, 1865, in the seventy-third year of his age, loved and lamented by his family and friends. His daughter, Mrs. Hendry, has a distinguished appearance. She is generous, kind-hearted, and of warm sympathies. They have had four children, three of whom survive: Thomas P., born March 30, 1848; Mattie E., born Feb- ruary 22, 1850, now the wife of George W. McBride, a lawyer at Grand Haven, Michigan; Oseola A., born March 27, 1852, who died January 4, 1873; Victor H., born May II, 1857.
ERBERT, RALPH P., a farmer and prominent citizen of Lagrange, Lagrange County, Indiana, was born, December II, 1812, in Connersville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Cummings) Herbert. They were from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The maternal parent is of Irish extraction, and the father of English descent. Thomas H., grandfather of Ralph P., was a soldier in the War of 1776, and fought for our country's freedom and national existence. His son Samuel, inher- iting something of the military spirit of his sire, enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, and served with credit during the entire conflict, and at the close was mus- tered out and honorably discharged. For his regular enlistment he was, by a grateful government, granted a bounty, and for his volunteer campaign in Canada with the American army received a second land grant. Although in straightened financial circumstances he was in his life a man of high respectability and influence in the community in which he lived. A tailor by trade, he in early life followed that occupation, but in later years became a farmer, which calling he pursued during the remainder of his life. He was a worthy member of the Baptist Church, with which he was for many years con- nected, an exemplary Christian, a respected citizen, and a kind and considerate friend and neighbor. He died in 1862 in the sixtieth year of his age. Ralph P. Her- bert enjoyed in boyhood and youth extremely limited educational advantages. At the age of about eight years he moved with his father's family from Pennsyl- vania to Ohio, where they settled upon a new forest farm, and they were all engaged in clearing, tilling, and improving it for about fifteen years. Here he attended a common county district school very irregularly during
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the winter terms. Schools in those days were of a very indifferent character and supported wholly by private subscription. The necessary means for the payment of teachers were obtained with difficulty. Notwithstanding his meager scholastic opportunities Mr. Herbert had, during his minority, acquired sufficient schooling and knowledge of men and affairs to enable him to compre- hend the systems of commercial life. In 1835 with his father's family he removed to Indiana and located on a prairie farm near Lima, Lagrange County. Here Mr. Herbert began life on his own account by working out on a neighbor's farm by the month, where he remained for two years. In 1836 he bought a tract of timber land of two hundred and twenty acres, which, in the follow- ing year, he began clearing, alternating his time be- tween working for wages and the improvement of his land until 1841, when, having erected the necessary building, he married and began housekeeping at his own home, where he and his wife remained until 1854. He then sold his farm and moved to Lagrange, and pur- chased a tract of one hundred and eighty acres adjoin- ing the village on the west, where he has ever since made his home. About the time of his removal to La- grange he had become interested in real estate opera- tions, and his different investments placed him among the largest land - owners in Lagrange County. As a farmer Mr. Herbert has ever taken a representative posi- tion among his neighbors, and his adaptability, appli- cation, and judicious management have always in his agricultural pursuits won him a financial success, by which he has acquired a handsome competence. In 1850 he engaged with D. Mckinley as a tanner and currier, and in the shoe-making business at Ontario, Indiana. Disposing of his share in 1853 he engaged, in connection with his brother James, in selling goods, at Lima. After two years they removed their stock to Sturgis, where, after its continuation for about ten years, he bought his brother's interest, and continued selling on his own account for two years, when he disposed of his goods to Eleanor Herbert, since which he has given his undivided time and attention to his farm property and to his money interests. In 1870 he with Richard Hubbard and James Herbert opened a private bank at Lagrange. At the end of the first year's business, Mr. Herbert purchased his partner's interest and associated his son Henry M. with him, continuing the house until 1876, when with the aid of others it was merged into the First National Bank of Lagrange, in which Mr. Herbert is a stockholder. His early education being that of a farmer his comfort has been found in that pursuit, in which he takes much pride and interest, giv- ing marked attention to the improvement and breeding of horses, cattle, and sheep. He is a good calculator, financier, and business man. In politics he sympathizes with the Republican party, and is uncompromising in
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his political convictions. Mr. Herbert is a worthy mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church, which he joined about forty years ago, and in which he has filled the posi- tion of elder for ten years. He is a liberal contributor to its temporal necessities, and adds much to its moral and social advancement. Mr. Herbert is respected and trusted by all, and is regarded as one of the substantial, successful, and exemplary citizens of Lagrange. He was married, November 25, 1841, to Miss Sarah Mckinley, of Steuben County, Indiana, a lady of worth, personal attractions, purity of character and endowments. They have had four children, three of whom survive: Cath- erine A., born May 20, 1845; John E., born August 27, 1850, died February 17, 1851 ; Henry M., born Feb- ruary 15, 1852, and Sarah A., born February 22, 1856.
OSTETTER, HENRY, a wealthy farmer, of Lig- onier, Noble County, Indiana, was born, July 14, 1813, in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. His parents, Henry and Catharine (Maughmer) Hos- tetter, were natives of Virginia and Maryland, of Ger- man and Scotch descent. Mr. Hostetter's grandfather, Ulrich Hostetter, emigrated from Germany to this coun- try at the close of the Revolutionary War, and located in Greenbrier County, Virginia, afterward removing to Rockingham County in the same state. Henry Hostet- ter received in youth education in the common schools, but was apprenticed at the age of fifteen to learn the tanner and currier's trade. His term was no sooner completed than he felt compelled to abandon the occu- pation on account of failing health. In the spring of 1831 he accompanied his father's family, who had during this time moved from Chillicothe to Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, to that portion of Indiana now known as Perry Township, Noble County, where they began clear- ing a large tract of land. Of the following five years he spent three on the farm, and the remaining two as sales- man in the employment of Spencer & Dawson, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He then attended school at Goshen, Indiana, for four months. After leaving school he con- tinued to labor at whatever he could find to do, eight months in the year, and teaching school the remaining four months, up to July 5, 1839, when he was married to Miss Margaret Ann Harsh, who had emigrated at the age of fifteen with her parents from Logan, Hocking County, Ohio, in 1837, to the town of Ligonier, and, as many early pioneers have done, walked the whole way, a distance of over three hundred miles. After marrying he settled on a piece of thick, heavy timbered land in the Hawpatch, two miles north of the town of Ligonier, and commenced clearing up a farm, contin- uing to improve it until it is at present one of the best in the county. He left the farm in 1853, moved to the
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town of Ligonier and commenced the practice of law and the general collecting business. In religious views Mr. Hostetter is a liberal, although educated according to the strictest religious views, as was also his wife. He joined the Masonic Fraternity in 1853, in which he has held all stations, being still an active member. It must not be inferred, however, judging from his lim- ited advantages, that he was almost uneducated. On the contrary, so well had he improved his opportunities, that he now may be regarded as one of the best informed men in that part of the country. Mr. Hostetter belongs to the Republican school of politics. He is earnest in the support of his political convictions and an active worker in the party. He has held many positions of honor and trust from the desire of his political friends and not at all from his own wishes. In 1840 he was elected county assessor and was a candidate for re-election in IS42, but was defeated by only three votes, the Dem- ocratic majority for their other candidates being about three hundred and fifty. In 1840 he was also ap- pointed, by the Legislature, county appraiser. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for fourteen succes- sive years, and also was township assessor for twelve years, and is now a member of the school board. His long continuance in official position by the people, un- solicited by him, is a sufficient tribute to his efficiency and fitness for public place. As one of the early set- tlers of the county, Mr. Hostetter has witnessed the magical transformation of its forests into farms, its plains into sites for villages, and its paths into high roads. Ligonier has changed from a few log huts into a thriving town of twenty-five hundred inhabitants, with churches, school-houses, banks, newspapers, shops, and warehouses. Mr. Hostetter is now sixty - seven years of age, but hardly looks to be fifty. He is still in the uninterrupted possession of all his faculties, mental and physical. His business enterprises, which have gener- ally proved successful, have never been jeopardized by a mania of speculation. He now enjoys, with his wife, who is still living and hale and hearty, an ample com- petence. They have four children living.
OUGH, JOHN, of Fort Wayne, was born at Mid- diebury, Vermont, June 14, 1818, and died at Fort Wayne, January 30, 1875, in his fifty-seventh year. He was the son of Doctor John Hough, a man of ex- tensive and elaborate learning and marked ability, who was graduated at Yale College in 1802. He was successively the pupil of such men as John Adams, Moses C. Welch, Rev. Joel Benedict, Levi Hart, D. D., and Doctor Dwight, of New Haven. In 1812 he was appointed professor of languages in Middlebury College, Ver- mont, which position he held till 1817, when he was
transferred to the chair of theology, which le held till 1825; he was then restored to the chair of languages, which he held till 1838, when he was chosen the first professor of rhetoric and English literature. The father, so able and competent, assiduously superintended and directed the education and training of his son. It is not, therefore, surprising that when young Hough grad- uated at Middlebury, in 1838, he was noticeably pro- ficient in all the branches of study usually pursued at college, and that his general reading and culture were much more extensive than is usually attained by young men even under the most favorable circumstances. Im- pelled by that indomitable energy which distinguished him in after life, Mr. Hough, soon after graduating and before he had attained his majority, determined to rely alone upon his own resources. He left his New England home and became a teacher in the family of Doctor Taylor, of Montgomery, Alabama, where he remained something over a year, when he was elected to a profes- sorship in Newburn Academy, in the same state, after- wards filling a similar position in Colman Academy, at South Canebrake, Alabama. Though filling these re- sponsible positions with great credit and ability, his en- ergetic character required a wider and more active field of operation. He therefore abandoned the profession of teaching, and leaving the South, went to Cleveland, Ohio, and began the study of law. These studies he pursued with his usual energy during the years 1841 and 1842; and, having passed an examination and been ad- mitted to the bar, removed to Fort Wayne in 1843, and settled down to the practice of his new profession with ardor and energy; and his efforts were soon crowned with eminent success. He was first a member of the firm of Worthington & Hough, afterwards of Hough & Day, then Hough & Turner, and in later years with some others. In all these relations Mr. Hough was a hard-working, intelligent, and successful business man. One of his enterprises demands more special mention. This was his connection with the large manufacturing firm of Jones, Bass & Co., of which Mr. Hough was a member. This establishment was a pioneer among the manufactories of Fort Wayne, and did more, perhaps, than any other to lay the foundation of the present prosperity of that city. Indeed, while his sound judg- ment in business matters led, as it necessarily would, to the accumulation of a large private fortune, he was never forgetful of the true interests of Fort Wayne, and few men have done more for its advancement. But he was not alone a sagacious, successful man of business. Every movement calculated to benefit his fellow-men found in him an active advocate and liberal supporter. In all moral reforms he was a fearless leader, stopping not to ask if it were popular, but only "Is it right?" He was also an active member of the Presbyterian Church of Fort Wayne, and though he accepted the
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doctrines of this Church and relied upon their truth with a simple and assured confidence, there was none of the bigot or zealot about him. As a Christian he was charitable and tolerant, ever ready to accept as a brother in Christ every one who looked to Him as his Savior, however much he might differ from him in the details of religious opinion. In social and domestic life Mr. Hough was almost a perfect model. As a husband he was kind and affectionate, as a parent considerate and indulgent, as a friend generous, just, and steadfast, as an associate cheerful, intelligent, and agreeable. For many years Mr. Hough was identified intimately with almost every public enterprise which had for its object the improvement of the city of Fort Wayne and a de- velopment of the resources of the surrounding country, the rapid growth and development of which was due in a marked degree to the efforts of Mr. Hough. As the agent of Eastern land-owners he sold one-half the lands in Allen and adjoining counties to the present occu- pants. While carefully preserving and protecting the rights of his employers, he at the same time sought to bring into market all unimproved lands, and always preferred as a purchaser the man who intended to set- tle down and cultivate the soil. And he so managed his land business that he was never compelled to sue or oppress an honest purchaser. If the purchaser would work, and was doing something for himself and his fam- ily, Mr. Hough would promise him extension from year to year, and finally enable him to save and secure for him- self and family an independent home. But for this gen- erous and kindly regard for the men of toil on the part of Mr. Hough, many families in Allen and adjoining counties now enjoying independent and competent homes would have been destitute. The people owe him much, and hence their profound respect and regard for him. Mr. Hough was, in a large degree, a success- ful man. He had laid the foundation for vast wealth, and could he have lived ten years longer would have been one of the richest men in the West. It was not through that penuriousness which clings to pennies and fears ex- penditure, that distrusts men and shrinks from associa- tions and combinations, that Mr. Hough sought success. On the contrary, he had faith in those around him, possibly too much. He believed in the power of com- bined effort and associated means, and was therefore not only fitted for large enterprises, but conducted his own affairs on broad and liberal principles. He gave to every enterprise, and something to every one who asked. He was in every sense a genuinely public-spirited man, full of charity and generous toward all. The great characteristics of Mr. Hough's mental organization were energy, courage, and hopefulness. There was no diffi- culty which, by ceaseless effort, he would not undertake to overcome; there was no danger he would not face unflinchingly and manfully ; no gloom upon whose dark-
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