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 123

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 123
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 123

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).

At the close of the session in 1863, he tendered his resignation, and was appointed by Gov. Morton as first lieutenant and quarter- master of the One Hundred and Seventeenth regiment Indiana volunteers. He accompanied this regiment to the field, acting as its quar- termaster until the expiration of its term of

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service, in the spring of 1864, excepting a short time when he served as division quarter- master. From the close of this term of serv- ice, until 1876, he remained in private life. But in the centennial campaign the republi- cans of this district again nominated him to represent them in the general assembly of the state. He was elected on a platform favor- able to the bill for the erection of a new state house. At the close of this session he retired from political life with a record of which he and his posterity may feel justly proud.

In 1836, at theage of sixteen years, Mr. Moor- man identified himself with the Methodist Epis- copal church. Later in life he attached himself to the Wesleyan Methodist church, which de- nomination he found to be peculiarly in har- mony with his anti-slavery views. He entered the ministry of this church, and for a number of years traveled as a supply. Later, upon the dissolution of the church in this county, he re- united with the Methodist Episcopal church and has ever since labored as a local minister in that denomination. During this period he has been an active worker in all the temper- ance organizations, from the Washingtonian society to the present day. During the exist- ence of the Sons of Temperance, he served the order in various official capacities, and was grand patriarch of Indiana for the term of one year. In 1858 he became an Odd Fellow, and, after passing the chair of the subordinate lodge and encampment, was elevated to the office of grand high priest of the grand encamp- ment of Indiana.

In all the relations of life, social, private and public, Mr. Moorman has attained a repu- tation for probity and integrity, and by an honorable life and christian example has en- deared himself to all with whom he has been associated, and wielded an influence in the community which, though quiet, is no less potent. Mr. Moorman is the owner of 500 1

acres of good land, and has also presented to each of his children forty acres; he also is a holder of bank stock, gas stock, and valuable town property. Comment on his long and useful career would here be the work of super- errogation.

L. MURRY, of Farmland, Randolph county, Ind., is a native of Henry county, Ind., born August 14, 1854. By reference to the sketch of his brother, Dr. Albert P. Murry, of Albany, Dela- ware county, further information concerning the family will be found. M. L. Murry was reared to manhood on the home farm, educa- ted at the common schools, and at the age of twenty-two years began business for himself by clerking for three yearsin a general store in Franklin, Wayne county, Ind., and was then interested as partner in the business for a year, after which he sold out and returned to the farm, where he remained until 1889, when he moved to Farmland, and became a traveling salesman for Nichols, Shepherd & Co., of Bat- tle Creek, Mich., and handled threshing ma- chines, engines, etc., for that firm for two years. He then engaged, in company with W. M. Brooks, in the livery business at Farm- land, the partnership lasting one year only, through the retirement of Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Murry becoming the sole proprietor. A year later Mr. Murry sold his establishment, but was only sixty days out of the business, for at the end of that period he took a half interest with B. T. Edwards in another livery establish- ment, which they carry on most successfully. under the firm name of Murry & Edwards.

Mr. Murry was joined in matrimony in Wayne county, Ind., June 8, 1874, with Mrs. Ella Beeson, whom he lost April 25, 1889. The second marriage of Mr. Murry took place January 1, 1891, to Miss Gretchen Myer, who

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was born on Stanton Island, and to this union has been born one child, Myer J. Murry. Mr. and Mrs. Murry are consistent members of the Christian church, and in politics he is a repub- lican. He is a member of the I. O. R. M., and is regarded as a good and faithful and use- ful citizen.

J OHN NIXON, M. D., of Farmland, Randolph county, Ind., the inventor and patentee of the Depurator, for the cure of consumption, was born in Jay county, Ind., April 1, 1859, the son of John and Hannah (Pinnock) Nixon. The parents were both born in Columbiana county, Ohio, 1813, and were there married in 1835. They at once located in Jay county, Ind., where the father engaged in cabinet making and in agri- cultural pursuits, which vocations he success- fully followed until his death, June 8, 1889, his wife having set out upon her long pilgrim- age to the unknown land September 15, 1873. The children of these parents were twelve in number and were born in the following order: Joseph; Sarah, deceased; Rebecca, deceased; William, now a farmer of Jay county; Eliza, deceased; Ruth, the wife of L. M. Doddridge, of Stanton, Mich .; Lucetta, married to Cyrus Stratton, of Jay county, Ind .; Matilda, now Mrs. Frank Vanskock; Lottie, wife of George Taylor, of Stanton, Mich .; Lucinda, wife of Isaac Stratton, of Jay county, Ind .; Emanuel, and John, whose name stands at the opening of the sketch.

John Nixon, M. D., was reared on the farm until about sixteen years of age, in the meantime, however, acquiring a very sub- stantial education in the common schools of his township, and in the schools of Ridgeville and Portland. At the age of seventeen he began teaching in Jay county, and for four years consecutively followed this vocation in

the fall and winter. He then studied medi- cine for a year with Dr. C. S. Arthur, of Portland, Ind., followed by three years' study in the Ohio Medical college (allopathic), from which he graduated March 1, 1882. He at once began practice at Farmland, where he has achieved renown and profit. His triumph in his art culminated June 7, 1892, when he received letters patent for his invention called the Depurator-now secured to him in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Ger- many and France. Prior to the invention of this wonderful apparatus, other cabinets had been used, but in vain, for the cure of con- sumption. To quote briefly from a descriptive pamphlet :

"The inhalation of oxygen has some merit, especially in emphysematous cases, where the tidal air is too small, but it also fails because it leaves the gerin unmolested. The different spray apparatuses have been used, but they fail to divide the liquid into small enough particles to enter the smallest air cells, and are failures. It seems to have remained for Dr. Nixon to devise a means of volatilizing a non-volative medicine, and so arranging it that the medicine reaches the affected part effectually. His In- strument differs from all others in the manner of vaporization. The medicine is made to drop regularly and steadily on some prepared wool, and as it trickles through the meshes of this wool in a confined space it is struck at right angles by an alcoholic vapor at a pressure of from ten to twenty pounds, is immediately knocked into a million of atoms, and is com- pletely volatilized. After this volatilization it is carried by an ingenious arrangement into an : air-tight cabinet, in which the patient is placed and allowed to breath this vaporized medicine. As the patient sits in this vapor it not only enters the lungs but completely envelops the whole body and penetrates the meshes of the clothing as well as the pores of the system in

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general. It is a complete bath in this medical vapor, while at the same time the patient is taking directly into the lungs a poison to the bacillus the most deadly known."

Dr. Nixon was most happily married Sep- tember 1, 1881, in Randolph county, to Miss Rebecca A. Sater, who was born in Dela- ware county, Ind., April 28, 1860, daughter of Abijah B. Sater, and this union has been blessed by the birth of two children-Nellie G. and John S., Jr. Mrs. Nixon is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while the doctor is an Odd Fellow. The doctor is also secretary of the Elkhorn Natural Gas & Oil company, as well as treasurer of the Progress Gas & Oil company, and is always foremost in assisting in the development of enterprises designed for the public good. In politics he is a democrat. The state of Indiana, and more particularly the county of Randolph, may well feel proud of this scientist, who has done so much toward ameliorating suffering humanity, and in snatching from future un- timely graves thousands of his fellow beings, as his invention fully promises to do. His treatment is not only used by himself but by many others.

AMILTON PURSLEY, a gardener, farmer, and sheep raiser, was born in Monroe township, Randolph county, Ind., November 20, 1857, a son of James and Emily (Meeds) Pursley, of English origin. The father was a tanner and farmer, ind his farm occupied the present site of Farm- and. Mrs. Emily Pursley was called from arth when her son, Hamilton, was but nine ears of age, but the father continued to keep he family together until his own death, and when the time came for the younger children o be provided with home, Hamilton went to ive with an elder brother for one year, and

then for eleven years with a brother-in-law. For another year he worked out by the month, and then married Nancy J., the daughter of Abraham and Nancy (Harbor) Hammers, whose sketch appears on another page.

Mr. and Mrs. Pursley passed the first year of their wedded life on a rented farm near Farmland, and then Mr. Pursley purchased a tract of twenty acres, and rented eighty addi- tional acres for three years, from William Hammers, but before three years had expired he sold the twenty acre tract and purchased eighty acres, which he has since most hand- somely improved; to this he has added, by purchase, another tract of sixty acres, and, his wife becoming heiress of forty acres, he has now a handsome estate of 180 acres, extra well improved. He is meeting with much success in gardening, which he has carried on in the past eight years, and he has also made a specialty of thoroughbred sheep. On the partition of his father's farm at Farmland, he laid off his portion, of about fifteen acres, in building lots, made the third addition to the town, and realized about $3,000 by the sale. Mr. Pursley is an energetic, industrious and enterprising young American farmer, and every move he makes means a return in cash. He is a member of the F. M. B. A., is a republi- can, and he and wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their five children are named Charles, Luther, Roy, Esther and Hammers, and are all highly respected.

R. AARON G. ROGERS is a native of Henry county, Ind., was born August 18, 1849, and is the youngest son, now living, of T. F. Rogers and his wife, Eliza (Lewellan) Rogers, both natives of West Virginia. Mr. T. F. Rogers was born in Harrison county, W. Va., in the year 1810,

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and died in Henry county. Ind., December 3, 1883. in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He came to Indiana in 1829, with others, stopping one year in Union county, Ind., and in the spring of 1830 located in Henry county. He married Miss Sarah Massey, who only lived a few years, leaving four children as the result of the union. Later, he married Miss Eliza Lewellen, who is still living at the well- rounded age of seventy-four years. Eight children, four of whom are now living, blessed this marriage, one son and three daughters. Thornton F. Rogers was an exemplary man, of irreproachable character, a good and worthy citizen and a man of wonderful endurance, and in physique was stout and robust, and was a noted hunter of his day. Dr. Aaron Rogers now owns the trusty rifle with which he fur- nished many a meal for his family.

Aaron G., Sr., father of Thornton F. Rogers, was a native of Virginia, and the family were of Welsh and German extraction. Aaron G. participated in the war of 1812, serving under Gen. Harrison. Later, he served under Gen. Anthony Wayne, and was with him during his entire campaign, and as- sisted in the establishment of various military posts. He was often detailed as scout, and the hatchet he carried on his expeditions is now a much valued treasure of our subject. Not only was he a pioneer fighter, but he was also a pioneer preacher, doing valiant work as a Methodist divine. The father of Dr. Rogers was also a life-long Methodist. The Rogers family date back to colonial days and early history, Joseph and John Rogers having parti- cipated in the Revolutionary war, one of them being mortally wounded in the battle of Brandywine. A strain of patriotism and love of right and country ran through the Rogers family, as members of it have participated in every struggle our country has experienced. Two sons of Thornton F., David and James,

were soldiers in the late war, serving nearly the entire time in the army of the Potomac.

Dr. Rogers, our subject, was born and reared upon the farm, and was taught industry and economy and how to endure hard knocks in his youth. He took more than the ordi -! nary advantage of his country schooling oppor- tunities, and acquired a fair education. His intentions were to teach, but, instead of be- coming a pedagogue. he began reading medi- cine, and at the same time operated the farm. In the spring of 1879 he entered the office of Dr. C. Smith, of Farmland, and remained there two years, and then took his first course of medical lectures at the Eclectic Medical college, of Cincinnati. In the spring he re- turned to Farmland, and engaged in the practice of medicine with his preceptor, Dr. Smith. He remained here until 1881, when he came to Parker, where he has since prac- ticed his profession with great success. Dr. Rogers has adopted the regular practice, and is now giving his attention to the general work of his profession, both medicine and surgery. He is identified with the State Medical society, and also the district and county societies. He is a man of extensive reading and keeps fully abreast with his progressive calling. In poli- tics he is a republican, and there is no uncer- tain ring in his political convictions. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' lodge, of Parker, No. 170.

February 20, 1879, he was married to Miss : Mary A. Carter, of Farmland, a native of Wayne county, Ind., and born November 5, 1860, the daughter of William B. Carter. One . child has blessed this union, Sylva May. The mother is a member of the Society of Friends.

Before closing this paper, brief mention must be made of the beautiful cabinets of rel- ics and curios to be found in the office of Dr. Rogers. He has many trophies of General . Harrison's campaign while governor of the ter-

R. C. SHAW.

MRS. R. C. SHAW.

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ritory. He has also many Indian relics, hav- probed the secrets of the Mound builders. Much of interest might be written of the Rog- ers' cabinet if space would admit. Dr. Rogers is a man one likes to be in company with. He is a hale fellow well met, and a gentleman and a scholar.

ORRIS L. ROSS, the popular liveryman of Farmland, Monroe township, Randolph county, Ind., is a native of Nettle Creek town- ship, in the same county, is a son of Wesley D. and Cynthia (Amburn) Ross, and was born December 1, 1855. His grandparents came from Kentucky, and here entered a tract of 120 acres, on which they reared a family of ten children, viz .: John; Fletcher; Sarah; Artimesia; Dorsey; Amanda; Wesley D .; Elijah; Ellen and Waldo. The father of Morris L, is an elder in the Christian church, for which he has performed some very good and faithful work. The original cabin which he put up on the forty-acre tract in Nettle Creek is still standing on the redeemed forest land, now a blooming garden. Later he moved to Parker, and there resided for the long space of thirty years, after which he settled in Farm- land. His wife died in March, 1863, and was laid at rest in Huntsville cemetery, where a handsome monument is erected to her memory. The children born to Wesley D. Ross and wife were five in number, and were named John; Rachel; Morris L .; Sarah and Rebecca. After a reasonable lapse of time from the death of his wife, Cynthia, Mr. Ross married Mary, daughter of Henry and Eliza (Pool) Hartey, natives of Germany, with whom he is happily passing the declining years of his well spent life.

Morris L. Ross remained on his father's farm until he had attained the age of fourteen

years, after which he for three years clerked in a store in his neighborhood; he then went to Muncie, Ind., and for another year per- formed the duties of clerk; then drove a huck- ster wagon for two years; then clerked again for another year, and then entered into the bonds of matrimony with Miss Sabina, daugh- ter of John and Sarah (Hiatt) McNees. They began housekeeping at Winchester, when he still pursued huckstering for a year for Henry Carter; thence he returned to Muncie and worked a year for J. L. Long in the same line of business; then moved to Farmland, and for four or five years was engaged in buying and selling horses; he next went into the livery business, which he still most success- fully pursues, having now a fine stable in Farmland, one in Parker, and one in Muncie. To the marriage of Mr. Ross have been born six children, viz .: Wickliffe, Waldo, Bertha, Marion, Sylvia G., Clayton and Rosa May, and a more happy family cannot be found than his on the forty acre tract in Stony Creek township, surrounded as they are with plenty and every comfort. Mr. Ross is a member of the I. O. R. M., and his wife a member of the Christian church. He is much respected wherever known, and counts his friends by the legion.

R EUBEN C. SHAW is a native of Massachussetts, and a descendant of a sturdy and well known New Eng- land family that settled in Maine at an early period in the history of that state. William Shaw, grandfather of the subject, was born of English parentage in Maine, where all of his life was passed, first as an agriculturist and later as a manufacturer. His son, David E., father of Reuben C., was born in Maine in 1801, and spent the first fifteen years of his life on a farm, attending such schools as his

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neighborhood afforded in the meantime. Be- coming dissatisfied with the rough usages of the stony farm, where he was compelled to work early and late, David Shaw. while still a mere youth, imitating the example of so many boys of the New England states, ran away from home and went to sea, to which the re- maining years of his life were devoted. At the early age of twenty-one, he became cap- tain of a merchantman and for some years was engaged in the mahogany trade along the coast of Honduras and other Central America countries. While thus engaged, he contracted a disease peculiar to the hot, unhealthy climate of that part of the tropics, from the effects of which he died, in the year 1828, at the age of twenty-seven. He was married, November 11, 1822, in the city of Boston, Mass., to Susannah B. Hudson, a native of that city, where she was born about the year 1803, the daughter of Joseph and Mercy B. (Bradley) Hudson. This union was blessed with the birth of three children, namely: David E., who resides in Florida; Reuben C., the subject of this biography, and William P., a cabinet maker of Darke county, Ohio. After remaining in widowhood several years, Mrs. Shaw was married, July 18, 1833, in Boston, to Alexander R. Poland, also a sea- faring man, whose death occurred in the city of New Orleans within a comparatively short time after his marriage. Subsequently, in 1847, in New Orleans his widow became the wife of Samuel C. Jones, a captain of a mer- chant ship, whose death occurred on the 29th of May, 1855, in South Salem, Ohio, whither he had gone to visit his family after a foreign voyage of over a year's duration. Soon after her husband's death, Mrs. Jones returned to her native city, Boston, where she remained until 1864, in which year she came to Indiana, where her sons had preceded her, and died in this state on the 10th day of July, 1885; her

remains rest in the beautiful Woodlawn cem- etery at Farmland.

Reuben C. Shaw, when six years of age, was taken by his parents to Maime, where he remained until his fourteenth year, during which time his educational advantages were very meager, his attendance at the common schools aggregating only about three weeks of each year. Before arriving at the age of fifteen, he entered an educational institution in Boston, where he pursued his studies, at intervals, for a period of three years, and in the meantime accepted a position as salesman in a large china and glassware house of that city. Severing his connection with the mer- cantile business, Mr. Shaw afterwards began working at the carpenter's trade, for which he fitted himself by a three years' apprenticeship, and, after following the same about three years, joined a company composed of forty- nine spirits, as daring as himself, and made an overland trip to the gold fields of California. He engaged in mining near the site of the present city of Sacramento, and, while not successful in a financial sense, the venture proved a valuable experience, as it enabled him to see the great undeveloped west and become acquainted with the usages of life in the wild and troublous times of that exciting period.

Mr. Shaw left the Pacific coast in 1851 and returned to Boston by steamer, via the Isthmus of Panama, reaching home on Decem- ber 22d of the same year, when he again re- sumed the carpenter's vocation. In 1852, he became a resident of Ohio, locating in Ross county, where he remained until 1861, at which time he came to Farmland, Randolph county, Ind., where he has since made his home. In 1863 Mr. Shaw purchased a forty acre tract of fine land in the vicinity of Farm- land to which he made additions at intervals until at one time he was the possessor of 241

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acres, the greater part of which he divided among his children in the year 1890.

The marriage of Mr. Shaw was solemnized on the 9th day of May, 1847, with Miss Rebecca P. Smith, whose birth occurred in Cape Cod, Mass., August 24, 1824. Mrs. Shaw is the daughter of Samuel and Mercy (Witherell) Smith and has borne her husband five children, whose names are as follows: Walter C., a carpenter, residing in Tennessee; Sylvera B., wife of Hamilton Penery; Josephine W., wife of Oliver H. Warren; Frank L., and Fred P., the last two well known residents of Monroe township, county of Randolph. All the above named children are living and heads of families, the decendants of Mr. Shaw num- bering, at this time, in addition to sons and daughters mentioned, twenty-one grandchild- ren and two great grandchildren.

Since becoming a resident of the Hoosier state, Mr. Shaw has been a prominent factor in the affairs of Randolph county, throughout which he is favorably known as a wide-awake progressive citizen, fully alive to all that inter- ests and benefits the public. He possesses a sturdy practical mind, characterized by those two most valued mental acquisitions, good sense and sound judgment, and his influence has been potent in shaping and controlling the material and moral advancement of the com- munity of which he has been for so many years a valuable member. He has prominently identified with several business enterprises, among which was the buying and shipping of poultry, which he began in 1873, and carried on for some time quite extensively, having been one of the largest consignors to the east- ern markets. In 1887 he assisted in organizing the bank at Farmland, of which he was made vice-president and director, and with which he has since been connected in an official capacity and as a stockholder. When the office of drainage commissioner was created, he was

appointed to fill the position for Randolph county, and discharged the duties of the same in a highly satisfactory manner for a period of three and a half years. Fraternally Mr. Shaw is a Mason of high standing, and politically his allegiance has been to the republican party ever since its organization, having voted for every presidential nominee from Fremont to Harrison, inclusive: For some years, Mr. Shaw has been active in the field of archæo- logical research, and his collection of pre- historic relics, Indian curios, etc., is perhaps one of the largest and most valuable of the kind in the west. He has also given much at- tention to taxidermy, in which his skill is dis- played in many fine and rare specimens mount- ed by his own hands.

Fred P. Shaw, son of Reuben C., was born in Iowa, April 6, 1861, and was reared a farmer. February 13, 1881, he was married, in Randolph county, Ind., to Christina E. Friar, born in Delaware county. Ind., October 16, 1863, a daughter of John W. Friar. To Mr. and Mrs. F. P. Shaw have been born the following children: Chloe E., Ola E., Carrie W., Lee C., and a deceased son, Ray A. Mr. Shaw is connected with his father in the poultry business, is a rising young business man, and also owns a farm of 160 acres. He and wife are members of the Christian church. In politics he is a republican, and fraternally is a Mason.

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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 123

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