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 27

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 27
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 27

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).

state. When thirty-two years old, he was united in marriage with Mary C. Coe, daughter of William and Harriet Coe, of Indiana, and immediately thereafter disposed of his interest in Illinois, and, returning to Delaware county, settled on the old home farm, where he re- mained, a successful tiller of the soil, until his death, which occurred on the 17th day of March, 1884. His wife survived him nearly two years, departing this life in January, 1886. Henry and Mary C. Hamilton had a family of four children, namely: Milton, Millard F., William Harry and Carl E. Of the above, William Harry is deceased; Millard F. and Carl are at this time engaged in farming and real estate business in the new state of Wash- ington.

Milton Hamilton was reared on the home farm in Centre township and received his educational training in the district schools. He remained under the parental roof until his twentieth year, at which time, thinking to bet- ter his financial condition in the west, he went to the distant state of California, where for a period of seven years he was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits in Sacramento valley, princi- pally in the counties of Butte and Napa. He met with a fair degree of success as a farmer, and in 1879 went to Washington terri- tory, pre-empted land, and there he resided until his return to Delaware county in the spring of 1884. From the latter year until September, 1892, Mr Hamilton was engaged in farming the old homestead, and then effect- ed a copartnership with F. Karn in the com- mission, sale and livery business, which he has since carried on and in which his success has been very encouraging. Mr. Hamilton is well known in business circles in Muncie, and his financial standing is first class in every particular. His close attention to his various lines of business has been marked by careful forethought, and he has been enabled to accu-

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mulate thereby a handsome property, owning at this time a valuable farm of 320 acres, be- side other real estate in the city and county. He is a director and stockholder in the Farm- ers' National bank of Muncie, and the business firm with which he is at present identified is one of the leading establishments of the kind in the city.

Mr. Hamilton was married in Puget Sound, Wash., December 8, 1885, to Hattie C., daughter of John and Hattie McArdle. This union has been crowned with the birth of three children, namely: Hazel, Henry C., and Louise-the second child dying in infancy. Mr. Hamilton's political affiliations are with the republican party, but he has never been a partisan in the sense of seeking official prefer- ment.

S TEPHEN HAMILTON, of Centre township, Delaware county, Ind., was born in Monongalia county, W. Va., December 27, 1825, the son of Stephen and Anna E. (McAbee) Hamilton, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and Maryland. After their marriage Stephen and Anna Hamilton settled in Monongalia county, W. Va., where they made their home until the fall of 1830, at which time they moved to Delaware county, Ind., locating on what is now the Granville turnpike, Centre township, where they purchased from the government 240 acres of land. To this Mr. Hamilton subsequently added another tract of 140 acres, and began life in the backwoods. His first dwelling was a rude log structure, eighteen by twenty feet in dimensions, covered with a clap-board roof held to place by weight poles, the door made of clap boards fastened with wooden hinges, while light was admitted to the interior of the domicile through a window in which greased paper was used in-

stead of glass. Mr. Hamilton, for some time after coming to the new country, supplied his table with the meat of deer, bear, wild turkey and other game, with which the forests at that time abounded. He acquired great skill with a rifle, and no wild animal upon which he drew his deadly aim was ever known to have escaped. He was one of the original "Forty-niners" who sought the gold fields of far away California, and he started for the Pacific coast by a private conveyance to Rich- mond, Ind., thence by stage to Cincinnati, at which place he took a steamer for New Orleans and across the gulf to Chagres City. After crossing the Isthmus of Panama he was detained for about six weeks, at the end of which time, in company with a number of other spirits as daring as himself, he chartered an English vessel and proceeded to San Fran- cisco. He was engaged in mining for a period of eighteen months, during which time he accumulated considerable money. He re- turned home by the same route as he went to Calafornia, resumed farming, and was thus employed until his death, which occurred on the 17th day of May, 1872; his wife died December 11, 1868, on the home farm.' These excellent people were members of the Episcopal church; they reared a family of eight children, whose names are as follows: Alvin, of Osage county, Kan .; Washington, deceased; Henry, deceased; Selina, wife of S. Bates, of Illinois; Mary A., deceased; Thomas, deceased; Stephen, whose name opens this sketch, and Archibald, deceased.

Stephen Hamilton was but four years of age when brought to this county, within the boundaries of which the greater part of his subsequent life has been passed. He re- calls, with pleasure, the exicting scenes of pioneer life, and amid the rugged duties, incident to the clearing and developing of the home farm, he' acquired strength of

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body and determination of will which served him well in after years. In the primitive log school house he acquired the rudiments of an education, and at the age of twenty-three, in company with his brother Archibald, accom- panied his father upon the latter's long and perilous journey to the gold fields of Cali- fornia. For a period two years and two months he worked in the mines, and during that time succeeded in accumulating a considerable sum of money, which he judiciously invested in 160 acres of fine land upon his return to Dela- ware county. The place he purchased is in Centre township, and he has since resided upon the same, being the owner at this time of a comfortable home and a hightly improved farm.

Mr. Hamilton was married October 18, 1855, to Miss Rachael Moore, whose birth oc- curred in Butler county, Ohio, July 8, 1837. Her parents, Mark and Mary (Davis) Moore, both natives of Ohio, were married April 4, 1835, and reared the following children: Zerelda, deceased; Rachael, whose name ap- pears above; John, a contractor of Muncie; Robert C., deceased; Anna, of Muncie; Lany, wife of John Pugh; Virginia, wife of J Smith of Kansas; Vincent T., of Muncie, a contractor. The father of these children died November 24, 1881; the mother still lives and makes her home in the city of Muncie. The wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton has been crowned by the birth of ten children, whose names are as follows: Charles E., of Seattle, Washing- ton; Lillie Z., wife of George Shafer; Ann E., wife of L. Michner; Frank E., Henry, Mary E., deceased; Iva, deceased; Archibald A., Grace S. and infant who died unnamed. Mr. Hamilton is a man of popularity in his com- munity; prudence and moderation are among his chief characteristics, and his life has been governed by pure and just precepts. By suc- cessful management he has accumulated a

competency of this world's goods, and owns the fine farm already noted, beside valuable property in the city of Muncie. He is a re- publican in politics, and has always taken an active interest in the material prosperity of his township and county.

RANT HANCOCK, contractor, of . Muncie, Ind,, is a son of Watson and Elizabeth (Davis) Hancock, and was born in Wayne county, Ind., June I, 1864. Watson Hancock was born near Ham- ilton, Ohio, in 1820 or 1821, was married at College Corner, Ohio, settled in Wayne coun- ty, Ohio, shortly after that event, thence moved to Randolph county, where he followed farming until about 1871, when he settled in Delaware county, near Yorktown, where he followed farming for about ten years, and then moved to Edgar county, Ill., where he and wife are now living-he at the age of seventy-two years. These parents have ten children now living, viz: George, a farmer of Randolph county, Ind. ; Caroline, wife of Jerry Bennett, of Paris, Ill .; William, in business at Red Key, Ind .; Hannah, wife of Frank Reed, Hildreth, Ill .; Alice, wife of Stephen Johnson, farmer, of Edgar county, Ill. ; David, farmer of the same county; Grant Hancock; Ida, unmar- ried, at home with her parents; Watson, a car- penter, of Muncie, Ind., and Nora, unmarried, with her parents.

Grant Hancock, at the age of seventeen, worked for himself a year in Illinois at farm- ing, and from that on in Randolph county, Ind., until twenty-two. But agriculture was not congenial to his taste, and at the age named he apprenticed himself at carpentering -first to John Williams and then to George Barnett, who were doing much work along the line of the I. B. & W. railroad in Ran-

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dolph county. After two years' work for these parties he was prepared to do business on his own account, and began contracting. He erected a large number of buildings near Modoc and Losantville, and for three years met with much success, and then came to Muncie, in 1889, and began contracting as a member of the firm of Hancock & Smith for the first season. In 1890 he formed a partner- ship with his brother David for one year, since which time he has been contracting alone. His work has been quite extensive since then, having, since 1892, built ninety- two dwelling houses, to-wit: Forty for W. A. Sampson, and thirty-five for A. L. Johnson & Co., in Gray's addition in 1892, and twenty- two in the spring of 1893, before the financial depression came on. In active times his ef- fective force of employees numbers 100 men.

Mr. Hancock is in politics a democrat, and, as he believes in "live and let live," assisted in the organization of the carpenters' union in Muncie, but resigned in 1892, yet continued to treat his employees with the same considera- tion as the other contractors in the city. Mr. Hancock started at contracting with limited capital, but by skill, strict business integrity, promptness in filling his contracts, he has placed himself at the head of the contractors of Muncie, as the attendance of patrons at his office, 406 east Adams street, will attest. Mr. Hancock was married, in 1886, to Miss Rosa M. Grubbs of Modoc, Ind., who has added happiness to this home by the addition of three bright children-Alvin, Bertha and an infant son.

HOMAS E. HARRINGTON, the pres- ent efficient recorder of Delaware county, was born in Caroline county, Md., May 25, 1843, a son of James and Martha (Numbers) Harrington, natives of

the same state, and of Caroline and Kent counties, respectively. In 1872 these parents removed to Henry county, Ind., and located on a farm where the father died the same year; the mother survived him until 1889, departing this life in the city of Muncie. They belonged respectively to the Methodist Episco- pal church and Friends' Society, and were peo- ple eminently respected in the community where they resided. They were the parents of seven children, of which family four are now living, namely: Thomas E .; Margaret, wife of John Anderson of Muncie; Lydia M., and J. Harry, an employee of the Indiana Bridge company. Thomas E. Harrington was reared in his native county until eighteen years of age, and received his education in the pub- lic schools. On the breaking out of the rebel- lion he entered the army, enlisting, in 1861, in company D, First regiment Maryland vol- unteer infantry, and gave three years and three months to the service of his country. He was made fife-major of his company, and during the period of his service participated in the Gettysburg campaign, was on the block- ade service, and for some time was under the command of Gens. Butler, Lew Wallace, Dix and Brigadier-Com. Lockwood. After being honorably discharged, he returned to his native state and engaged in teaching, which he followed until 1870, when he came to Indi- ana, where he was similarly employed in Franklin county until 1874.

In the spring of 1875 Mr. Harrington lo- cated in Muncie, and in November of that year removed to Selma, where he taught school during the winter seasons and worked at the carpenter's trade in summers, until the fall of 1890, at which time he was compli- mented by his fellow citizens by being elected to the office of county recorder. In the dis- charge of the duties of this position Mr. Har- rington has been uniformly kind and obliging,

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and his manner of conducting the affairs of the office is proof sufficient of the party's wis- dom in his election. Politically, Mr. Har- rington is and always has been a supporter of the republican party, and has contributed largely to its success in several important cam- paigns. He is post commander of the S. J. Williams post, G. A. R., being also adjutant of the same, and is a member of the Selma lodge, No. 189, I. O. O. F., in which he is past grand chief and past grand patriarch; he is also a member of the Twa Twa tribe of Red Men. Mr. Harrington's marriage was solem- nized in December, 1865, with Miss Sue B. Norris, daughter of William Norris, and they are the parents of the following children: Alice L., wife of C. O. Hanna of Selma, Ind .; Dela S., Harry C., William H., Martha V., Charles O. (deceased). Lola J., Thomas R. and Georgia. Mr. Harrington and family are members of the Methodist church, belonging to the High street congregation of Muncie, and are among the most esteemed residents of the city. His domestic relations, with the exception of the sadness occasioned by the one visitation of death to the family, have been of the most felicitous nature, and his public and social positions have been commen- surate in their pleasant current with the flow of his domestic huppiness. He has been de- serving of all that has been bestowed upon him, and will ever be able to sustain the high position he has attained in the esteem of his fellow men.

J OHN J. HARTLEY .- Perhaps no one, from choice, would desire to be thrown upon his own resources at an early age, but history continually gives the world examples of successful lives, where the youth- ful days were full of privation and self denial.

John J. Hartley was born in Freedom, Beaver county, Pa., September 21, 1856, son of Charles A. and Barbara (Heffner) Hartley, natives of Baden Baden, Germany, who set- tled in Beaver county, Pa., in 1834. The father was a teacher by profession, had been educated for the ministry, but never entered the sacred calling, preferring teaching, and fol- lowing it in his native country and for some time after coming to America. He taught in tee schools of Pittsburg, and later became the principal of the Trevelyn school, Pennsyl- vania. He and wife died in Freedom, Beaver county, Pa.

John J. Hartley received a limited educa- tion in the public schools, and at the early age of twelve years left home and for eight years thereafter acted as agent for Riley & Sargent and for the Union News company. He naturally took to business, and during the years of 1876 and 1877 he rented the privilege on the limited express trains on the P., Ft. WV. & C. R. R. from Pittsburg to Crestline, and operated them successfully. In 1877 he became the manager of the Tremont house at Mansfield, Ohio, and the same year, June 21, was united in marriage to Miss Anna Mc- Sherry, the former proprietor of the Tremont.

In 1882 Mr. Hartley engaged in the man- ufacture of crackers, which business he con- tinued one year under the firm name of Pur- tell, Hartley & Black, but, owing to poor health, was obliged to dispose of his interests and turn his attention to other pursuits. In 1884 he engaged in the real estate and insur- ance business in Mansfield and continued there very successfully until the spring of 1889, at which date he came to Muncie and since that time has given his entire attention to real estate transactions. In 1887 he pur- chased twelve acres of land and laid out what is known as the Hartley & Lowenstine addi- tion to Muncie, a very valuable and desirable

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part of the city. Mr. Hartley has been fore- most in every enterprise having for its object the public welfare. He assisted in the organ- ization of the Muncie Real Estate exchange, of which he is the treasurer, and is also a stockholder in several large manufacturing plants, and one of the active members of the Citizens' Enterprise company, in the organi- zation of which he contributed $1,000 and much of his time. He is recognized as a busi- ness man of superior ability and marked prob- ity, and the city of Muncie recognizes in him a gentleman of exemplary character in the pri- vate walks of life as well as before the public gaze. His political attachments, though strong, are ever held in subservience to his sense of right, and as a member of the repub- lican party he is frequently consulted on mat- ters of interest in both local and general cam- paigns. He has been active in behalf of the city's welfare as member of the common coun- cil, to which body he was elected in 1891, and in which he served as chairman of the com- mittee on water works and other important committees. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order, in which he has taken a num- ber of degrees, including chapter, commandery and Scottish rite. He is also a member of the Pythian fraternity. Mr. and Mrs. Hartley were formerly members of the Congregational church at Mansfield, Ohio, and now belong to the First Presbyterian church of Muncie.

S ETH G. HASTINGS, M. D .- Mun- cie is a city that rejoices in a number of very efficient and skillful physi- cians and surgeons, and prominent among these is Dr. Hastings, who was born in Henry county, Ind., March 1, 1840, son of William and Jane (Reece) Hastings. William

Hastings was bo n in Wayne county, Ind., son of William Hastings, a native of North Carolina, and one of the pioneers of Wayne county, Ind. The mother of the doctor was a native of North Carolina, who settled in Henry county, Ind., in 1823. The doctor's parents were married in the latter county and began mar ied life on a tract of land which they entered and proceeded to clear, residing there for many years. The father died in that county in 1854, but the mother still survives, making her home in Muncie with her son Seth G. Hastings.

Dr. Hastings is the fourth child in a family of seven children, and received his education in the, public schools. In the fall of 1859 he removed with his mother to Richmond, Ind., and graduated from the high school of that city, after which he entered Earlham college, graduating in the class of 1867. For the next eight years Dr. Hastings was a most efficient teacher and superintendent of schools in Wayne county, later being made the superin- tendent of the B. C. Hobbs school at Bloom- ingdale academy. After this he taught three years in the Wabash public schools, finally serving most acceptably as superintendent of the Decatur public schools for three years. During this time Dr. Hastings devoted some of his spare time to the study of medicine, and after filling the last named position at Decatur, he attended the Homeopathic Medical college, at Cleveland, Ohio, and finished his medical course at Cincinnati, graduating in 1877. After finishing his studies Dr. Hastings began his practice at Decatur, Adams county, Ind., but in 1887 came to Muncie, where he has built up an extensive practice. He is a member of the State Homeopathic Medical association. Dr. Hastings was one of the organizers of the prohibition party in Indiana, and since that time has been a stanch supporter of the same. In 1892 he was the nominee of the party for

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coroner of Delaware county. February 3, 1870, Dr. Hastings was united in marriage with Miss Edith Towell, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Cox) Towell, of Fountain county, Ind. Mrs. Hastings died November 2, 1889, leaving four children-Alton P., Laura Eilen, Williard S. and Carrie Esther. Dr. Hastings is a member of the Society of Friends, of Muncie, being very active in both church and Sunday school work. He has' served as president of the Adams county Sun- day school union and of the District Sunday school association, embracing the Sunday schools of Wayne, Henry, Randolph and Del- aware counties. Dr. Hastings is deservediy popular with all the people with whom he is brought in contact, not only in a professional way, but as a friend and neighbor. The ca- reer of Dr. Hastings, as a professional, has been of the most flattering character, not only from a financial point of view, but from a scientific stand point. His reputation as an exponent of the particular school to which he belongs is widespread and exalted, and he may with complacency look upon the long list of patients his skill has brought him. His stand- ing in society is commensurate with his stand- ing as a physician.

S TEPHEN HATHAWAY, M. D., de- ceased, one of the oldest and most experienced physicians and surgeons of eastern Indiana, was born near Co- lumbus, Ohio, August 1, 1819, and was a son of Erastus and Mercy (Norton) Hathaway, natives of Massachusetts. He was reared on a farm, educated primarily in the common schools, and began the study of medicine under a private preceptor in Columbus, attended a medical college at Cleveland, graduated, came

to Delaware county, Ind., in 1844, and prac- ticed at Granville until the California gold fever became rife in 1849. He at once joined a com- pany of some fifty Muncie and other Delaware county people and went to the gold fields, where he passed a year and did fairly well. On his return he settled in Muncie in practice, and was also for some years in partnership in the drug business with John C. Helm. The doc- tor was favored with a large practice, extend- ing over a wide area, until about the close of the civil war, when he retired to a farm of thirty-three acres at what is now known as Riverside. Of this he made a nursery and fruit farm, and carried it on for several years, closing out the nursery in 1888. He was a man of great industry and perseverance, but was stricken with paralysis, and died in April, 1891, in his seventy-second year. His mar- riage took place May 26, 1853, to Sarah Jar- rett, daughter of Daniel Jarrett, for many years a resident of Delaware county. This union was favored with the birth of nine children, in the following order: Charles, who died at the age of eleven years; William, of Lafayette, Colo .; D. Jarrett, in the lumber business at Topeka, Kan .; May, wife of J. B. Ragan, of Sidney, Neb .; Stanley, at home; Sherman, in the stone business at Denver, Colo .; Lydia, stenographer, at Pittsburgh, Pa .; Addie, a ste- nographer, and Sallie, at home.

Of the old Hathaway homestead, thirty-one acres constitute a part of the new and attrac- tive addition to Muncie, known as Riverside. It is laid out in wide streets, and forms one of the most desirable and beautiful residence sub- urbs of the city, is attracting the best class of business men; possesses good natural drainage and is underlaid with deep strata of gravel; is in close proximity to the business portions of the city, and is entirely free from factories and other annoyances that mar the quiet peace and repose of retired domesticity.

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EV. JACOB W. HEATH, was born February 23, 1829, in Wayne county, Ind., and is of English stock; his great-grandfather, together with two brothers, crossed the Atlantic, from their Lon- don home, and stopped in Maryland, where the grandfather, Jacob Heath, was born and reared; and, early in his life, removed to Guil- ford county, N. C., where Ralph Heath, father of Jacob W., was born, reared and mar- ried to Miss Mary Tomlinson. After the birth of three sons and one daughter-the daughter dying in infancy-the parents decided to move the young family to the wilds of Indiana, and in October, 1828, they left their home in the sunny south, crossing the mountains in the lit- tle wagon, to Wayne county, Ind., where Mr. Heath stopped with his family for one year. During the summer of 1829 Ralph Heath came to Delaware county, to enter land; less than 200 voters were in the county, and much of the land, where the city of Muncie now stands was congress land, subject to entry, at $1.25 per acre. But Mr. Heath finally located in Salem township, five miles sonthwest of Mun- cie; built a cabin, and brought his family here December 25, 1829-but one family liv- ing nearer than the little village of Muncie- town, five miles distant. The growling of the bear, the scream of the panther, and the howling of the wolf with all the loneliness of this wilderness country, were what the father and mother had to endure. The sons older than Jacob W. were Albert, now of Hannibal, Mo .; John W., of Muncie, and the Rev. James W., deceased, who all shared in the hardships of pioneer life with their father and mother. The father was a christian man and was among the first to open his cabin to the early missionaries of the M. E. church. This cabin was the preaching place in the early settlement for years, and this early training that Jacob W. received

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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 27

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