A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana, Part 68

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

USA > Indiana > Boone County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 68
USA > Indiana > Clinton County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 68
USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 68

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married, in his native state, Anna L. Moore, who was born in the county of Bucks in 1830, the daughter of William and Anna Moore. The following children resulted from this union: Clara, wife of Dr. Beaver; Martha, wife of Oscar Crabbs; Elizabeth B., wife of Lewis Crissman; Anna; Oscar W .; Laura, wife of Paul Kochne; Joseph, deceased, and Phena, deceased. Mr. Edmonds has been successful financially and is a well known and highly re- spected citizen. He and wife have been, for many years, active members of the Methodist church, and in politics he affiliates with the republican party. Mrs. Moore's ancestry is traceable to Ireland, and the family connection with the old nobility of that country is easily established.

Dr. O. W. Edmonds was born March 25. 1861, in Montgomery county, Ohio, and spent his boyhood days at the towns of Germantown and West Carrollton, remaining at the latter place until his twentieth year. He was edu- cated in the schools of Carrollton, and, after de- ciding to adopt the medical profession, began his preparatory reading in the office of his brother-in-law, Dr. E. N. S. Beaver, of Al- bertus, Pa., under whose instruction he con- tinned for four years, making substantial prog- ress in the meantime. The further to increase his professional knowledge, the doctor entered Starling Medical college at Columbus, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1886, and im- mediately thereafter began the practice in the city of Dayton, where he remained until his removal to Albertus, Pa., in 1888. He fol- lowed his profession successfully in the latter place for six months, and in September of the above year located at Frankfort, Ind., where he has since resided, actively engaged in the practice in that city and Clinton county. The doctor has filled the office of county coroner for the past two years, and at this time is city health officer, and also vice-president of the

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County Medical society. In 1888 he was con- nected with the Dayton Medical university as professor of anatomy, and while acting in that capacity delivered a number of lectures before the college, which brought him into favorable notice among medical circles throughout the state of Ohio. The doctor has devoted him- self assiduously to his profession and takes high rank among the most successful physicians and surgeons of Frankfort, which city has for years been noted for the ability of its medical men. His. practice, which is large and con- stantly increasing, is confined to Clinton county. The doctor was married at Albertus, Pa., September 13, 1888, to Alice J. Hertzog, a native of the same town, where her birth oc- curred on the twenty-ninth day of March, 1865. Mrs. Edmonds is a daughter of Nathan and Mary (Richardson) Hertzog, both parents na- tives of the Keystone state. Politically, the doctor is a supporter of the republican party, and fraternally, is identified with the order of Odd Fellows. In religion he is a Methodist, to which church his wife also belongs.

S IMEON S. ENGLE, an energetic farmer and stock raiser of Washing- ton township, Clinton county, Ind., is a native of Hocking county, Ohio, and is a son of William and Sarah (Vogt) Engle, the former of whom was born in Penn- sylvania and the latter in the Buckeye state, and both of German descent. Simeon S. was born January 21, 1846; his father June 19, 1814; and John Engle, the father of William, in 1783. In 1818, William Engle was taken to Ohio, where his father, John Engle, bought 160 acres of land, and there died in 1830, but his widow survived until 1873. The children born to John Engle were William, Rachel, Barnhart, Elizabeth, Margaret, Leah, Hannah, Fannie, Salome, Phebe and an infant, of

whom three are now living: William, Rachel and Barnhart. William Engle was married October 26. 1835, -to Miss Vogt, who was born in February, 1809. and became the mother of the following children: Esther, John. Elizabeth, Mary (deceased). Simeon S., Israel W., Louisa, and an infant that died un- named. The mother of this family died March 27, 1874, but, as stated above, the father is still living.

Simeon S. Engle was reared on his father's farm in Ohio, but at the age of eighteen learned the trade of the harness-maker. In 1867 he came to Indiana and located in Elk- hart county, at Locke, where he carried on a harness shop for some time, and then moved to Kosciusko county and bought 110 acres of . land. on which he lived until 1882, when he sold and bought a farm near Marion, in Grant county, on which he lived until 1888, when he again sold his property and came to Washing- ton township, Clinton county and bought his present farm of 160 acres, on which he settled in 1888. August 8, 1867. Mr. Engle married Miss Susan Davis, daughter of Daniel and Nancy (Kimball, Davis, and to this congenial union four children have been born and named in the following order: William H., October 8, 1868; John E., March 8, 1871; Ida, Janu- ary 12, 1874 (now the wife of Thomas Blinn), and Florence, July 2, 1876, now the wife of Frank Blinn; Ida and Florence married brothers. Mrs. Engle is a devoted member of the U. B. church and is most attentive to her church duties. Mr. Engle takes great interest in agricultural matters generally. His politics are emphatically democratic. While in Kos- ciusko county he was township assessor and township trustee several terms. During his residence in Grant county he was an extensive breeder of fine Poland China swine and Short Horn cattle, and in this vocation made a most enviable reputation.

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

J OSIAH FEESER, of Michigan town- ship, Clinton county, Ind., is a sub- stantial farmer of German descent, his great-grandfather Feeser being the first of the family to come to the United States. Henry Feeser, father of Josiah, our subject, was born in Maryland, reared a farmer, and married Rachel Utz. To this marriage were born the following children: Ephraim, Darius, Josiah, Elnora, William and Elizabeth-the first two being deceased. The father was an elder in the Lutheran church and died while some of the family were yet young, but the mother kept the children to- gether and educated them until her marriage with Jacob Leister. Mrs. Leister is now de- ceased.

Josiah Feeser was born in Maryland, Au- gust 17, 1848, and has always lived on a farm. His mother gave him a fair education by send- ing him to the subscription school when she was able. At the age of seventeen he and his brother William came to Indiana to carve out a fortune from what was then known as the ' to excel in efficiency any similar production. far west. February 28, 1869, he married In bicycle sundries the firm keeps on hand a constant supply of locks, lamps, bells, pants guards, tape, oil, etc., with special prices in lamps. The young men composing the firm are gentlemanly in the treatment of their pa- trons, and are meeting with the success their courtesy deserves. Delia A. Davis, daughter of Isaac M. and Susan (Price) Davis, and Mr. Feeser and wife now reside on the farm first occupied by Mr. Davis when he settled in Clinton county. Mr. Davis was an elder in the New Light church. He enlisted in company I, One Hundredth Indiana infantry, served over two years, and died in the hospital at Indianapolis. His chil- dren were Delia A., wife of Mr. Feeser; and S AMUEL B. FISHER, M. D., of Rossville, Ind., is one of the leading physicians of Clinton county and well known as one of the early practition- ers of medicine in Tippecanoe, Carroll and Clinton counties. He springs from an old American colonial family of Revolutionary stock, his maternal grandfather having been a French soldier who came to America with LaFayette. Jacob Fisher, great-grandfather Mary L. and Clarissa E., both of whom died in childhood. At their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Feeser settled on the farm mentioned, which now comprises eighty acres. It is improved with a modern dwelling, elegantly furnished for a country residence, and the barn and other farm buildings are commodious and substan- tial. Their only child, William P., was born December 12, 1861, and died August 23, 1872.

Mr. and Mrs Feeser are members of the Christian church, in which he was once a dea- con. In politics he is a democrat, and socially he stands very high.

ENNELL, SHAW & CO., of Frank- fort. Ind., are the only exclusive deal- ers in sporting goods in central nor- thern Indiana. The firm was organ- ized in November, 1892, by C. E. Fennell and C. E. Shaw, who then handled bicycles and bicycle repairs only, but in 1894 John Heim- bach joined the firm, and it now deals in every variety of sporting goods, including base ball supplies, guns, revolvers, cartridges, dynamite, fishing tackle, etc., together with doing all kinds of repairs. The bicycle, however, claims a great deal of their attention, and they make a specialty of the "Ariel" and "Meteor," of which they carry over fifty varieties. In 1894, the firm produced a lubricator, which is de- nominated the "Stuff," and which is thought

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

of the doctor, was a farmer in Augusta coun- ty, Va. His son John was the grandfather of the doctor, was born in Virginia, and married Elizabeth Humbert. The doctor has a set of silver table-spoons-an heirloom in the family 1 50 years-also a silver bull-eye watch, which was given to John Fisher, the father of the doctor, by his grandfather Humbert. John Fisher was the father of John, the father of doctor, and the only child by the marriage to Elizabeth Humbert. She died, and her hus- band married her sister Frances, and they were the parents of Daniel, Jacob, David, Eli, George, Joseph, Mary, Esther, Susan, and Catherine. John Fisher, the grandfather, was a farmer and moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, settling in Dayton, but soon after mov- ing to Preble county, near where Eaton now is, about 1809 or 1810. when the country was a wilderness. He cleared up and improved a section of land and became wealthy. He was a man of prominence but took no interest in office-holding. He was a large, strong man, owned several large farms, was the largest stock raiser in the county, was a man of good business ability, and reached the age of eighty years, dying in 1864.

John Fisher, son of above and father of the doctor, was born in 1799 in Virginia and mov- ed to Preble county, Ohio, when ten years old, grew up and married there, Catherine, daugh- ter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Loup) Charles. Andrew Charles was born in France and came to America with Gen. LaFayette as a conti- nential soldier, and was in all the battles in which the French troops took part in the Revolutionary war, and was wounded several times. He married, in Pennsylvania, a Miss Elizabeth Loup of that state. The Loups were of German descent and moved to High- land county, Ohio, among the pioneers, and there the father died about 1820, aged eighty years. He was a man of industrious habits, in

good circumstances, of high character, was a lover of liberty and a republican form of gov- ernment, and voluntered his services to assist the Americans to gain their liberty. John Fisher settled in Montgomery county, Ohio, on a farm. and built a flouring-mill within seven miles of Dayton, but in 1829 settled in Preble county. To him and wife were born four children-John C., Samuel B., Andrew R., and Barbara-all born in Montgomery county, except Barbara, who was born in Preble county, Ohio. He had been a promi- nent man during his life, of excellent character and was respected by all, and he died of typhoid fever at about forty years of age.

Dr. Samuel B. Fisher was born December 31, 1825. on his father's farm in Montgomery county, Ohio, and was four years old when taken to Preble county, Ohio, and fourteen when he came to Carroll county, Ind. He re- ceived a good common education for his day, and began the study of medicine in 1854 with Dr. Crawford of Rossville. He had married in May, 1852, Margaret, daughter of Enos and Lydia Cope. Enos Cope settled in Mont- gomery county, Ind., about 1828, became a prosperous farmer, and reared a family of seven children: George, Absalom, Enos, Lydia, Amanda. Lacinda and Margaret, and died about seventy-five years of age. He was a man of good character and a substantial citizen. After his studies with Dr. Crawford, Dr. Fisher engaged with him as a partner, and so continued until the death of the former, who had married Barbara Fisher. sister of the doctor. Dr. Fisher immediately met with a successful practice. At an early day the coun- try was full of malaria, and his practice kept him busy day and night, riding all over this section of the country among the pioneers. He has been a successful practitioner nearly forty years, and is widely known. To Dr. and Mrs. Fisher have been born six children: Dr.

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

John J., Fremont, William H., Loyal B., Alonzo and Justice C. ,

Dr. Fisher is a member of the National Medical association and Indiana State associa- tion, of which he has been president for some time. He is a patron of the leading medical journals of the day, and has a valuable medi- cal library. Politically, he is a democrat. He is a member of the Methodist church, as was was also his wife, who died January 12. 1892. Fraternally, he is a member of Rossville lodge, F. & A. M., and is treasurer; he is also a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F., Rossville lodge, No. 183, and has held all the offices in this lodge, including noble grand. Dr. Fisher has always been a public-spirited man, has served on the school board, and takes an active interest in educational matters generally, and in the pros- perity of the town. He is president of the Rossville bank, and displays as much sagacity as a financier as he does skill as a physician.

ON. EDWARD R. FLOYD, mer- chant of Middlefork, Clinton county, Ind., was born in Rush county, Ind., December 7, 1848. When five years of age his parents moved to Howard county, Ind., where he was reared and educated. Be- fore he reached the age of fifteen he joined the Eleventh Indiana cavalry and served two years. After his return he spent the time un- til twenty years of age upon the homestead, and attending school; in 1872 he located at Middlefork and engaged in mercantile businesss for some ten years. In 1882 he established himself in the boot and shoe business in Frank- fort, and after a residence of four years here, he moved to Chicago, but returned to Middle- fork in the spring of 1889, and established his present business of general merchant. Politi- cally he is a stanch republican, and as such was elected to represent his county in the state

legislature in the fall of 1894. Mr. Floyd married, in 1868, Miss Martha, daughter of Hon. A. T. Whiteman, of Middlefork, Ind., and by this marriage they are the parents of two children: Eugene, who is associated with his father in business, and Alice, wife of W. W. Holliday. Mr. Floyd is a member of Stone River post, No. 122, G. A. R., and one of Clinton county's progressive and enterpris- ing citizens, being extremely popular with his fellow-citizens, who never hesitate to intrust him with their interest on any important occa- sion or in any responsible position.

AUL I. FRIEND, farmer and ex- soldier of Forest township, Clinton county, Ind., is of English descent. Ignatius Friend, his grandfather, was a native of Virginia, where he married Susanna Shafer and came west, locating first in Ohio, whence he moved to Rush county, Ind., and finally, in 1848, settled in Clinton county, where he bought a farm in the wilderness. He served through the Mexican war, and for meritorious conduct was commissioned captain; as an old line whig, he was elected justice of the peace. John J. Friend, son of above and father of Paul I., the subject of this sketch, was born in Ohio, and was quite small when brought to Rush county, Ind., where he grew to manhood. In 1847 he came to Clinton county and purchased 300 acres of land. He married Eliza J. Smith, and to this marriage were born the following children: Vesper E., Leander W., Elizabeth, Paul I., Christina, Joel F., Viola and Eliza J. Both father and mother died in August, 1858.

Paul I. Friend was born in Rush county, Ind., November 21, 1843, and was reared a farmer. When but seventeen years of age, August 13, 1862, he enlisted in company H, Eighty-sixth Indiana infantry, and took part

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in the battles of Rural Hill, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Knoxville, 'Rocky Faced Ridge, Resaca, Peach Tree Creek, Lost Moun- tain, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattahoochee River, Atlanta, Jonesboro, and others. At Chicka- mauga his brother-in-law was dangerously wounded, and Mr. Friend assisted him from the field, and returned immediately to the point he had left, to find it occupied by a reg- iment of rebel cavalry instead of his own regi- ment. In fleeing from capture, a tuft of hair was shot from his head, a bullet passed through his coat at the shoulder, and another through his clothing at the hip; at Missionary Ridge, a piece of shell struck his hand. He then oper- ated with Thomas in the pursuit and destruc- tion of the rebel Gen. Hood's army, fighting constantly for one hundred days. He received an honorable discharge June 6, 1865, and is now a member of H. C. Coulter post, No. 131, G. A. R., at Russiaville, and in politics is a democrat. Mr. Friend married Indiana Lucas, daughter of Ruben and Nellie (Daily) Lucas, and this union has been blessed by the birth of the following children: Andrew J., Eliza E., Aurora G., Addie M., William T., Marilda, Lucy M. and Bertha M. Mr. Friend is the owner of a farm of sixty acres, nicely improved, and he and wife are members of the New Light church and are much respected in the community in which they live.

EORGE YOUNG FOWLER, editor and proprietor of the Frankfort Times (weekly) and Morning Times (daily) of Frankfort, Clinton county, Ind., was born in Perry township, in the same county, two miles north of Colfax, March 11, 1860, and is a son of William A. and Sarah (Bazzle) Fowler, natives of Kentucky and Vir- ginia, respectively. He was thrown upon his

own resources at the tender age of nine years, but a helping hand, however, was extended to him by friends and relatives, who furnished him a home until he reached his fourteenth year, when he entered the office of the Cres- cent at Frankfort as an apprentice under E. H. Staley, with whom he remained until 1885, acting in every capacity from devil to assistant manager. In 1885, at the age of twenty-five years, in conjunction with G. H. Hamilton and his own brother. Finley J. Fowler, he started the Frankfort Times, a weekley jour- nal, the initial number being a complimentary edition of 3,000. After having occupied two or three locations for three years, the Times established its headquarters on Clinton street, near the fire department - building, and about this time Mr. Hamilton sold his interest in the plant, and in January. 1890, George Y. Fow- ler became sole proprietor of the journal. The business having now greatly increased in all its departments, the quarters were changed to their present location, next door east of the fire department, the press room and composition room augmented in size and improved with greater conveniences. and equipped in a style considerably above the ordinary. The weekly is a seven-column quarto, 35×48 inches, and the daily, which was first issued April 9, 1894, and which has met with phenomenal success, was at first a seven-column folio, 24x36, but on October 28, 1894. was enlarged to an eight- column folio, 26x40 inches, the press-bed being 38x52 inches. Within seven months after the first issue of the daily its circulation had reached the surprising figure of 1, 200 or more copies, and the weekly has long had a patronage of 2,500 subscribers-a number un- excelled by that of any paper published in any town of Frankfort's population in the state. The establishment is one of the most bene- ficial industries of the city, affording a living, as it does, to over forty persons,

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

The marriage of Mr. Fowler took place in Frankfort, Ind., October 11, 1882, to Miss Christina Kramer, who was born in this city, November 3, 1862, and is a daughter of Squire Edward and Mary Kramer, and this felicitons union is now blessed by the birth of three children, viz: Raymond Finley, now ten years of age; George Maxwell, aged five; and Walter Scott, aged four years. Mr. Fowler is a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Im- proved Order of Red Men, and with his ami- able lady enjoys the respect of a large circle of friends and social acquaintances.

J OHN C. FARBER, city attorney of Frankfort, Ind., and prominent as a lawyer and politician, was born in Xenia, Ohio, January 3, 1853, and is a son of Benjamin T. and Mary C. (Buser) Farber. Benjamin T. was born tn Fairfax county, Va., in October, 1824. Christian S. Farber, father of Benjamin T., was born in Wetzler, Germany, in 1776, emigrated to the United States in 1786, and was married, in ISIO, in Washington county, Md., to Miss Jones, a native of Maryland and related to John Paul Jones, of historic renown. Soon after marriage they settled in Virginia, where Christian S. died in 1831. In 1833 the family moved from Virginia to Xenia, Ohio, where Benjamin T. was reared, and where he was engaged in the manufacture of brick over fifty years. In 1848 he married, in Xenia, Miss Mary C. Buser, who was born in Maryland in 1830-a daughter of John and Susan Buser, of Frederick county in the same state. To the marriage of Benjamin T. and wife were born eight children, of which the following still survive: John C., Anna, James, a physician of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Fannie, wife of W. T. Wolf, chief clerk of the Panhandle Rail- road company. The parents are members of

the Methodist Episcopal church, while frater- nally Mr. Farber is a member of the I. O. O. F. He was in the mines of California in 1849 and 1850, and was also a soldier during the late Civil war, and has been a most successful busi- ness man. He is yet living, and carries his seventy years with wonderful vigor. John C. Farber passed his childhood and youthful days in Xenia, Ohio, graduated from the public schools of that city, and in 1870 entered the sophomore class of the Miami university, at Oxford, Ohio, from which renowned insti- tution he graduated in 1873, with the degrees of A. B. and A. M .- the latter degree earned by taking a post-graduate course during his senior year. He read law with Judge E. H Munger, at Xenia, Ohio, in the meantime teaching school two terms, and on January 4, 1876, he was admitted to the bar, after an examination before the supreme court at Columbus, Ohio; February 1, 1876, he located in Thorntown, Boone county, Ind., where he practiced with flattering success until his coming to Frankfort, September 3, 1884.

While a resident of Thorntown, he was nominated, in 1878, by the republican party, as candidate for the office of prosecuting attor- ney for the counties of Boone and Clinton, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1884 he was elected as alternate delegate from the ninth congressional district of Indiana to the republican national convention, held at Chi- cago that year. In September, 1884, he se- cured a half interest in the stave and hardwood Iumber business with Mr. Sims, as successor to Mr. De Camp, but two years later, February I, 1886, sold his interest in this business to his partner, Robert M. Sims, and organized the Frankfort Cooperage company, of which he acted as treasurer and director one year, when the corporation was dissolved by mutual con- sent and the stockholders reimbursed. March 1, 1886, Mr. Farber established his law office

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and practiced alone until July 1, 1891, when he was joined by Hon. Perry W. Gard, and this partnership continued until dissolved by the death of Mr. Gard in August, 1893, since which time Mr. Farber has again been alone. In August, 1886, Mr. Farber was appointed city attorney of Frankfort, and as to the merit he has displayed in the performance of the du- ties of this responsible office, suffice it to say that he has filled the position ever since, and has been reappointed for the term of four years. commencing with September, 1894. His pri- vate practice has been very extensive, and. among other noted cases, he managed that of the city water-works. He is regarded as one of the best city attorneys in the state, and his law library is equal to any other in the county.

The marriage of Mr. Farber took place in Thorntown, Ind., June 1, 1881, with Miss Maggie R. Sims, who was born in Jackson township, Clinton county, Ind .. and whose par- ents, William H. and Mary Sims, are now de- ceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Farber have been born three sons viz. : Benjamin F., in July. 1882; William S., in March, 1885, and John C., Jr., in March, 1893 The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and hold an exalted position in social circles. Mr. Far- ber is comfortably situated, owning some very valuable real estate, the result of his energy and foresight. He earned the money which paid his expenses through college, and when he came to Indiana had nothing worth speak- ing of in the way of worldly possessions; he is therefore entitled to great credit for his indus- try and indomitable perseverance.

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Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080