A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph 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 103

Author:
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1474

USA > Indiana > Randolph County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph 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 103
USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph 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 103

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).

remove to that state with his motherless children, but before his plans could be con- summated he fell ill, and on the 4th of April, 1865, his active life closed in death. Perhaps no man was more widely known among the pioneer citizens of Randolph county and the state than "Wash Monks;" certainly none was more honored and respected.

ON. LEANDER J. MONKS, one of the foremost attorneys-at-law of the Randolph county bar, was born in Winchester, July 10, 1843, and is the eldest son of George W. and Mary A. Monks. He attended the public schools of this county, where he acquired a good common school edu- cation, and afterwards entered the State uni- versity at Bloomington, Ind., where he re- mained during three school years. He left the university in the junior year and entered upon the practice of law. He rose steadily in his profession from the first, and in a few years was called upon to fill honorable and impor- tant positions. In 1870 he was chosen chair- man of the republican central committee of Randolph county, and in 1872 was again called to the same position: In 1874 he was elected a member of the republican state central com- mittee, and again, in 1876, to the same posi- tion. In 1878 he was the republican candi- date for judge of the Twenty-fifth judicial circuit, composed of the counties of Randolph and Delaware, and in view of this candidacy for this office, declined the position as a mem- ber of the state central committee. His nomi- nation to the office of judge of this circuit was the spontaneous expression of the good will and confidence of the people of this district, and he was elected without an opponent. In 1884 he was renominated and re-elected in a district composed of the same counties, and in

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1890 was renominated and re-elected for the district, then composed of the county of Randolph. In the administration of this office he has proved himself a man of pro- nounced abilities. He is prompt and ener- getic in the discharge of his duties, securing in the public business the utmost dispatch con- sistent with accuracy and justice. By his prompt and wise conduct of the affairs of the court he has won golden opinions from all classes and men of all parties, and in his pro- fession he occupies a high rank as a lawyer and judge. In the practice of his profession he has been associated with several gentle- men who are still identified with the bar of Randolph county. First, in 1865, he was associated with Col. M. B. Miller. This rela- tion was discontinued some time during the year 1866, but re-established in the following year and continued until 1871. In November of that year he entered into partnership with Hon. E. L. Watson, with whom he practiced until July, 1875. He then formed partner- ship relations with W. A. Thompson, which continued until he retired from the practice to enter upon the duties of the judicial office.

In his habits Judge Monks is simple and regular; cordial and sincere in manner, gen- tlemanly and unassuming, and courteous to all alike. And while he has established an enviable professional reputation, he has, by his noble and manly qualities, won his way to the hearts of all good citizens, and he is highly esteemed as a gentleman of integrity and honor. He is yet young, and may reasonably hope, should life be spared, for still higher advancement, in reward for duties faithfully performed. He is a member of the Indiana State Bar association, and was elected by that body as a member of the committee on judicial procedure, to serve during the year 1882.

united in marriage with Lizzie W., daughter of Alexander and Margaret B. White. Mrs. Monks is an excellent lady and shares with him the regard of a large circle of friends. They are the parents of four children: Mar- garet, the wife of Thomas J. Kizer; Mary D., a graduate of the Winchester high school, and Alice and Agnes (twins).

LFRED THORP MOORMAN .- Conspicuous among the progressive and intelligent citizen of the town- ship of White River, Randolph coun- ty, Ind., in Alfred Thorp Moorman, who was born on the farm where he now resides in sec- tion 16, on the 3d day of October, 1849; his parents were Stephen and Priscilla (Diggs) Moorman, for many years prominent and highly esteemed residents of Randolph.

His early education was received in the common schools, supplemented by a course in the high school at Winchester, where he ob- tained a knowledge of the more advanced branches of learning, and on attaining his majority he began life as an agriculturist on a farm not far from the home place, where he resided until 1884. In that year, he returned to the homestead, which his father gave to him on Christmas day, 1892, since which date he has taken a front rank as a farmer and a stock raiser, being at this time justly consid- ered one of the most intelligent, progressive and wide-awake citizens of the community in which he has, for so many years, resided.

Mr. Moorman wasmarried in 1872 to Mary E. Huffman, daughter of Jesse Huffman, a union severed by the merciless hand of death August, 1876, at which time Mrs. Moorman was called to her final reward, leaving one child, George C. An older child, Lester S.,

On the 2nd day of August, 1865, he was , died in infancy. Mr. Moorman married his

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AND WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP.

present wife, whose maiden name was Lucy Haynes, a native of Unionport and daughter of Willard Haynes, Esq., in the month of March, 1879. Mr. Moorman exercised the elective franchise for the first time in 1872, voting for U. S. Grant, since which date his fealty to the republican party has never been questioned. Religiously he is a Methodist, to which church his wife also belongs, both being active workers in the home congregation.

a HARLES W. MOORMAN, son of Tarlton Moorman, was born about three and a half-miles west of Win- chester, Randolph county, Ind., May 15, 1833, and died December 19, 1877, aged forty- four years, seven months and four days. He was married to Eliza A. Huffman on the 15th day of December, 1853, and settled upon a farm about one mile southeast of his birth- place. To this union were born four children: Orange L., George A., Leander E. and Cora B. Moorman, who are all living except George A., who died when quite small. Charles W. Moorman resided upon the farm until the year 1863, when, not being able to do manual labor, he removed to Farmland, Ind., and engaged in the boot and shoe business in con- nection with a general store. Later, having sold his business, he again returned to farm life. He was a strong republican in his poli- tical views, but was not an active politician. He was naturally unassuming in disposition, and was, perhaps, on account of his great bodily affliction, more reticent than he would otherwise have been. He never held any pub- lic office, but was at different times chosen to act as guardian and to administer on estates. He was an acceptable member of the Metho- dist church and well respected by all his ac- quaintances.

Orange L. Moorman, one of the leading business men of Winchester, was born in Randolph county, Ind., December 27, 1858, son of Charles W. and Eliza A. (Huffman) Moorman. Mr. Moorman was reared on the farm, three and a half miles southwest of Winchester, began his studies at the county schools, was advanced to the schools of Win- chester, and subsequently for some time was a student at the university of Hartsville, Ind.

O. L. Moorman was married to Caroline Allman on the 12th day of August, 1883, and settled upon a farm in Green township, near Emmettsville, Ind. In 1889 he removed to Farmland, Ind., and engaged in the hardware business. In 1891 he removed to Richmond, Ind., and re-engaged in the hardware business, but sold out and removed to Winchester, Ind., in 1893. At present he is secretary and treasurer of the Winchester Electric Light company and principal stockholder, and also president of the Ridgeville Milling company. He is a member of the Methodist church, and of the I. O. O. F., and is a republican in politics. To Mr. and Mrs. Moorman have been born two children, Charles L. and Emma A. Mrs. Moorman was born in Darke county, Ohio, and is a daughter of George and Christina Allman. The Moorman family is one of the oldest in the county, and numerous allusions to it will be founk on other pages of this work.

EANDER E. MOORMAN is a des- cendent of one of the earliest and most prominent families of Randolph county, the name appearing in con- nection with the history of this part of the state as long ago as the year 1818. At that date, Talton Moorman, grandfather of Leander E., came to the county of Randolph from North Carolina and purchased a tract of

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government land in what is now White River township, and about four years later moved his family to the new home in the wilderness and began clearing and developing a farm from the dense forest growth which at that early day covered the greater part of the country. He married, in North Carolina, Miss Hannah Way, a native of that state whose death oc- curred September 17, 1817, and there were four children by this union, and on the 29th of September, 1819, he was united in marriage with Rebecca Webb, who bore him children, among whom was Charles W. Moorman, father of the immediate subject of the men- tion. Tarlton Moorman resided in Randolph county until within a short time previous to his death, when he took up his residence in the county of Wayne, where, about 1876, he was called to his final rest at the advanced age of ninety-three years.

Leander E. Moorman was born April 2, 1863, on the home farm in White River town- ship. He resided under the parental roof until his sixteenth year, at which time he went to Missouri, where he spent one year, thence returned to Randolph county and became a student in the schools of Winchester, where he pursued his studies for several years. Since the age of 14, he has practically had charge of the home farm, the management of which demonstrates his success as an able financier ; he also owns a farm in Jay county, one con- sisting of 100 acres in Wayne county, and an eighty acre tract in the county of Pulaski, in the improvement of all of which he has spent considerable time and judiciously expended a large amount of money. To the homestead, which he owns, he added 196 acres, making it one of the finest farms in the township, and his residence, a handsome and commodious structure erected in 1892, is a model in point of elegance and convenience. Mr. Moorman porsesses, in a marked degree, the sterling

qualities of his ancestors, and though a com- paratively young man, has always won a con- spicuous position among the successful farmers and representative citizens of Randolph county. He was married March, 1891, to Mary Lemon, daughter of Edward Lemon, of Winchester, a union blessed with the birth of one child, Marie. In politics Mr. Moorman wields an influence for the republican party.

Is UTHER L. MOORMAN, of Win- chester, Ind., descends from one of the oldest families of the county, and was born in White River township, March 14. 1844. His parents were Rev. John A. Moorman and Nancy (Hiatt) Moorman, the former of whom was born in Richmond county, N. C., August 10, 1820. Luther L. was reared on the home farm and attended the country schools until seventeen years of age, when, July 29, 1861, he enlisted in company C, Nineteenth Indiana volunteer infantry, for three years, but, on account of his disability, was honorably dischargep at the end of fifteen months. On his return he engaged in farming and stock-raising on rented land. In 1873 he bought a tract of forty acres in Green town- ship, on which he made his home for nineteen years, and then located in Winchester. For two years of this time he traveled for a monu- ment-making firm of Indianapolis, and then engaged with the D. E. Hoffman marble and monumental works of Winchester, in 1891, and has ever since been in its employment. He is an affable gentleman and consequently a good salesman, being just such a man as manufacturers need for the disposal of their products.

Mr. Moorman is in politics a republican, and was elected a justice of the peace before he was twenty-one years of age; he also

.t. Viconman

Mrs. J. L. Moorman.

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AND WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP.

served two terms as trustee of Green town- ship, and one term as county commissioner. Mr. Moorman has not neglected the accumu- lation of the necessary means for sustaining him in the time to come, and is now the owner of eighty acres of good land in Jackson township, eighty acres in Franklin township, and sixty in Green township, beside considerable prop- erty in the city.

The marriage of Mr. Moorman took place in Winchester, October 15, 1891, to Miss Lillie Yunker, a native of Winchester, and a daughter of Solomon and Henrietta Yunker, who, with himself, is a member of the Method- ist Episcopal church. Fraternally Mr. Moor- man is a member of the I. O. O. F., and socially he holds a high position. The deceased millionaire and philanthropist, James Moorman, was his paternal uncle. He is president of The James Moorman Orphans' Home.

HOMAS F. MOORMAN, of Win- chester, Ind., comes of a family of bankers and financiers, and is one of the leading men in this line in Indi- ana. He was born in Stony Creek township, Randolph county, Ind., May 28, 1852, and received his preparatory educational course in the schools of Winchester, which he attended until eighteen years of age; he then went to Richmond, Ind., for the purpose of obtaining a more extended education, but illness com- pelled him to relinquish this desire, and con- sequently he returned home to labor upon the farm, which was more conducive to his health. He remained upon the farm until 1872, when he located in Winchester, assuming a position in the Winchester bank. Upon the organiza- tion of the Fa.mers & Merchants' bank, in 1878, he was elected cashier, and has held this responsible position ever since his elec-

tion. To his good management and financial experience belongs the credit of taking the Farmers & Merchants' bank through the terri- ble panic of 1893. Mr. Moorman is also in- terested in a bank at Union City, this county, and also one at Portland, Ind. Aside from the banking business, he is also interested in agriculture, and owns 390 acres of very valua- ble land in Randolph county. He is a man of public spirit and enterprise, and has always the good of the city and community at heart. In 1893 he erected the magnificent block at the northeast corner of the public square, it being the most modern and best commercial block in Winchester.

The marriage of Mr. Moorman occurred December 4, 1877, to Miss Elvira A. Hiatt, daughter of A. R. Hiatt, whose sketch will be found upon another page of this volume. This estimable lady was born near Winchester, Randolph county, Ind., September 21, 1851, and has added to the happiness of her husband by presenting him with three children, as follows: Walter H., born March 4, 1879; Herbert R., born December 28, 1883, and Lester F., born November 2, 1887. Mr. Moorman and his wife are leading members of the Society of Friends, of which he is treas- urer of the quarterly meeting, and one of the trustees of the yearly meeting. In politics Mr. Moorman is an earnest republican, and under the auspices of that party has served as town councilman for two terms.

He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and for two years was worthy patron of the Eastern Star degree in Masonry. He is also prominent in Odd Fellowship and Knights of Honor. To show the undoubted confidence the philanthropist James Moorman had in him, it may be well to state that he was appointed administrator of the philanthropist's estate, which was valued at over one-half million of dollars, and was also selected by the testator

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as one of the trustees of the Orphans' Home, which is located just west of Winchester. Thomas Moorman, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in North Carolina, March 11, 1815, and in 1821 came to Ran- dolph county, Ind., with his parents, who settled four miles west or the present site of Winchester, being among the earliest settlers of this county. In 1838 he entered land in Stony Creek township, where he was engaged in farming until 1864, when he removed to Winchester and became connected with the Winchester bank, which connection he re- tained until 1878, since which year he has been vice president of the Farmers & Mer- chants' bank. On April 19, 1838, he was united in marriage with Miss Eunice Diggs, who was born on a farm two miles west of Winchester, April 19, 1821. Mrs. Moorman was the daughter of William Diggs, who was also a pioneer of this county. This lady bore happy companionship with her husband until December 9, 1892, when she was called to her eternal rest, and is buried in Fountain Park cemetery. To Thomas and Eunice Moorman were born seven children: Thomas F., whose birth is given above; Tarlton W., born April 11, 1839, and died September 22, 1860; Agnes, born April 30, 1842, and died October 13, 1860; William D., born August 25, 1844, and died December 26, 1848; Hannah, wife of William P. Marlett, an employe of the United States government at Indianapolis, born June 30, 1848; Hiram D., born March 7, 1855, and William A., born January 5, 1860, and who now is in the banking business at Portland, Ind.

J AMES MOORMAN. Few men acquire vast wealth in following the ordinary pursuits of life. Large fortunes are usually the result of speculations under favorable circumstances. In the usual busi-

ness pursiness pursuits when men acquire sufficient property and means that enable them to retire from business and live, either in comfort or elegance, they are regarded as re- markable characters and are classed with "self made men."

James Moorman, the subject of this sketch, was eminently distinguished in his life time for having acquired a large amount of property and wealth in the ordinary business pursuits. He was not a speculator; he never took chances in the alluring schemes, wherein a single cast men become financial princes or aristocratic paupers. By the severest industry and the strictest economy, James Moorman became and was one of the wealthiest repre- sentative men of eastern Indiana. According to reliable information the paternal and maternal ancestors of the Moorman family seetled in Virginia, at a period antedating the revolutionary war. Prior to 1775 representa- tives of the family emigrated from that state to Richmond county, N. C., where the parents of James Moorman were reared and married.

Mr. Moorman was the youngest of the family of five brothers and two sisters, and was born near Rockingham, Richmond county, N. C., on the 26th day of June, 1795. His father died on the 27th day of November, 1801, and young James, with his widowed mother and the remainder of the family, were thrown upon their own resources. At the early age of six years he began to make and form plans for his future course and conduct through life, and from some of these rules and plans he never deviated in his long and successful career. In 1822, the mother, with the remainder of her family, removed to Indiana and settled in Wayne county, where her son Thomas had previously located, and made her home at what is known as Kenworthy Mill, on Greens- fork Creek, and continued to reside there until the 5th day of November, 1836.

James allomman

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AND WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP.

James Moorman inherited but a small amount of property from his parents, and what he did receive contributed in a very small way to his subsequent accumulations of wealth. The foundation of his fortune consisted of a strong and well balanced mind, with a body equally vig- orous, a hardy, robust constitution, combined with economical and temperate habits, and an energy and a zeal that shrank from no task. He entered a farm in Wayne county near where his mother had located, and in true pioneer style he literally hewed his way to fortune and fame. As fast as he accumulated any surplus means he put his money at in- terest, always placing it where it was safe, rather than taking higher rates with insuffici- ent and unreliable security; and to these first sums loaned by his industry and economy he continually increased the amounts. From early youth he exhibited decided talents as a financier, and his reputation continued to in- crease until he reached the age of more than four score years. The prominence to which he attained was gained, chiefly, on financial lines and he consequently bent all his energies and turned all the forces of his vigorous mind to financial matters, and his success was due largely to the fact that he kept at and followed this one theme, which seemed to be the pe- culiar trend of his mind. He never specu- lated, nor attempted to accumulate wealth by methods not consistent with the truest prin- ciples of sound business policy, preferring the slower and surer way to success. His earliest motto was: "Pay as you go and make each day more than you spend."

In 1860 he located in Winchester and then started what was known as the Winchester bank, which was afterwards incorporated into the Farmers & Merchants' bank. But such was his personal attention to the business af- fairs and his reputation throughout the county that the bank was always known as "Moor-

man's bank," and to this day many persons throughout the county refer to the newer or- ganization by the same name. His accumu- lations reached far beyond the half million line, and at the date of his death he was the owner of not less than 8,000 acres of land.

While Mr. Moorman's eminence was at- tained principally by reason of his financial success, yet he was well known for many other and nobler traits of character and mind. In his religious beliefs and principles he was a Quaker and always took a lively interest in the affairs of the Friends' society and contributed liberally to its aid. He was a faithful attend- ant at all the church services in Winchester, and was one of its principal supporters. His belief was that of the orthodox branch and he adhered strictly to its pure faith and simple ritual. Politically he was a republican and espoused the principles of that party from its organization. He abhored slavery with all its attendant evils, and he was always found a warm friend of the colored man. He de- nounced the fugitive slave law as an abomina- tion, and that it was in conflict with the sacred rights of man.

It is not sure that he was ever a conductor on the underground railway, but neither he nor his friends of the same political faith never denied the fact that he took an active interest in the management of the concern. And his efforts contributed to secure and aid many an escaping fugitive from the bonds of slavery.

When the war of the rebellion broke out he saw at once that it was a contest between slavery and freedom, and though he was of the faith of those who do not fight, he was al- ways in close touch and sympathy with the Union soldier; and as evidence of his belief in the rightness of the cause and of his personal esteem of the soldier who braved the hardships of the battle field, he set apart by his will a handsome sum for the erection of a monument

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to the memory of the soldiers of Randolph county, who gave their lives for their country.

Several years before his death he retired from the active duties of life and placed his extensive business affairs in the hands of trusted friends and advisers, who looked after his interests with commendable fidelity and with remarkable success. While not extrava- gant in his liberality, he seldom turned a deaf ear to appeals for charity and made many handsome gifts to worthy and needy persons.

James Moorman was never married and had no immediate family that would inherit his possessions, and after he had accumulated the bulk of his fortune, and in his maturer years, he began to lay plans for the disposition of the larger part of his property for charitable uses. He had long conceived and often talked of his purpose of establishing a suitable and comfortable home for orphans and destitute children. He always looked with horror upon the fact that little children who were orphans and destitute were crowded into the poor house with the vicious class of paupers who there seek refuge. And it is not singular that when he came to write his will, not only the greater part of it should be taken in founding and providing rules and regulations for an orphans' home, but that the first item and the first sentence of the will should indicate the object and purpose of his life. Many years previous to the execution of his will he had purchased a tract of land of 175 acres two miles west of Winchester. He had indicated that his object and purpose in procuring this farm was to eventually make it the site of an orphans' home. And he did by his will appro- priate and set apart this land for that purpose.

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A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph 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 103

Author: Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Chicago, A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1474

Author:
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1474