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 30

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 30
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 30

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).

large stock of goads in the New Anthony block on Walnut street. Under the efficient man- „agement of Mr. Keller, his partner being on the road as traveling salesman the greater part of the time, the business grew and prospered, and in time a new and more commodious apartment suitable to the increasing demands of the trade was procured in the Little block. As a business man, Mr. Keller has won a con- spicious place among the successful retail dealers of Muncie, and his place contains one of the largest and most complete stocks of the kind in the city. He began life, if not in the field of adversity, at least comparitively un- aided and dependent almost wholly upon self support, his capital consisting of a full share of brain power, energy and an inbred determi- nation to succeed. Personally Mr. Keller is very popular, eminently sociable, and, in every respect, a kind and courteous gentleman. He belongs to the B. P. O. E., F. & A. M. and K. of P., holding official position in the former order; and he was a leading spirit in the organization of the Ball Business college of Muncie, of which he was made treasurer at the time of incorporation.

The marriage of Mr. Keller and Miss Edna Haynes, daughter of Jesse G. and Matilda Haynes, was solemnized on the 2nd day of April, 1885; three children gladden the home of Mr. and Mrs. Keller, namely: Esther, aged five years; Nellie, aged three, and Paul G., an infant at this writing.

ENERAL WILLIAM HARRISON KEMPER, M. D., is a native of Indiana, born in Rush county, Decem- ber 16, 1839. His parents, Arthur S. and Patience (Bryant) Kemper, were na- tives of Kentucky and of German descent. The doctor's early life was similar in nearly

G. W. H. KEMPER, M. D.

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every respect to that of the majority of coun- try boys, having been reared on the farm, with the rugged usages of which he early be- came familiar. His father died in 1849, and at the early age of ten years he was compelled to rely very largely upon his own rescources. During the succeeding seven years, he was employed in tilling the home farm, attending the common schools at intervals in the mean- time, in which he acquired a practical English education, and, later, pursued the higher branches of learning at the seminary at Greensburg, Indiana. In 1856 he removed to Iowa, locating at the town of Montezuma, where for one year he was employed as clerk in a dry goods house, at the end of which time he accepted a position in a printing office, in which he continued for a period of two years. He returned to Indiana in the winter of 1859, from which time until January, 1861, he resided at Greensburg, attending school as above noted. Having early decided to make the medical profession his life work, he began the study of the same, at the age of twenty-one, in the office of John W. Moodey, M. D., under whose instructions he continued until the breaking out of the war, when he responded to his country's call, enlisting in company B, Seventh regiment Indiana volun- teer infantry, April 24, 1861. This was the first company to enter the service from Deca- tur county, and the doctor served for three months in the capacity of a private. On Sept- ember 25, 1861, he re-enlisted and was ap- pointed hospital steward of the Seventeenth regiment Indiana volunteers, in which capaci- ty he served until February 20, 1863, when he was promoted assistant surgeon of said regi- ment, a position which he creditably filled un- til the expiration of his term of service, July 27, 1864. While in the army the doctor ac- companied his regiment throughout its varied experiences, participating in a number of hard-

fought battles, including Hoover's Gap, Chat- tanooga, Rock Spring, Chickamauga, McMinn- ville, Farmington, Mission Ridge, Cleveland, siege of Knoxville, Dallas, Big Shanty, Noon- day Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, and the vari- ous engagements before Atlanta.

During the winter of 1864-5 the doctor further increased his knowledge of the healing art by attending a course of lectures at the university of Michigan, and the following spring took a course at the Long Island Col- lege hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y., from which well known institution he graduated in 1865. In the latter year Dr. Kemper located in Mun- cie, Ind., where he has since been engaged in the general practice of his profession. He was coroner of Delaware county from 1870 till 1875, and was one of the examining surgeons for pensions from May, 1872, to June, 1893, with the exception of a period of two years, when he was removed for political reasons. Dr. Kemper is a member of the Delaware County Medical society, the Indiana State Medical society, the American Medical associ- ation and the National association of Railway Surgeons, and takes an active interest in the deliberations of these bodies. In 1879 he was elected treasurer of the Indiana State Medical society, and served as such until 1886, when he was honored by election as its president, presiding during the session of 1887. The doctor is not unknown in the field of medical literature, having at different times contrib- uted a number of valuable papers on various medical subjects. He has studied much, and carefully examined many cases, and being an original thinker and a clear, logical writer, he has made known his investigations from time to time in a number of essays contributed to various medical journals or read before medi- cal societies.

Among the contributions from his pen the following were much discussed: "Operation

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for the Radical Cure of Varicocele," "Ex- ophthalmic Goiter," "Labor Complicated by Peritoneal Adhesions of the Uterus," " Biblical Medicine," "Case of Inversion of Uterus," " Retention of Utero of the Dead Fœtus, Considered Particularly with Regard to its Effects upon the Mother," "Is Labor Pro- tracted by Early Spontaneous Rupture of the Membranes?" "A Case Illustrating the Use of Intrauterine Injections for the Arrest of Post Partum Hemorrhage," "Sequel to a Case of Retained Fœtus," "A Case of Podolcoma," "A Contribution to Medical Jurisprudence," "Four Hundred Obstretrical Cases-Statis- tics and Observations," "Affections of the Gall-bladder Tending to Result in Cutaneous Biliary Fistula," "Ligation of the Femoral Artery," "Primary Cancer of the Lungs," "Angel-wing Deformity," "A Case of Lodge- ment of a Breech Pin in the Brain; removal on the second day; recovery," " Antiseptics in Normal Labor," "One Thousand Cases of Labor and their Lessons," "A Case of Senile Gangrene.". The above papers and essays contain much which is of value to the medical fraternity. They are the fruits of reason and experience combined, and met with mnch at- tention in the medical journals both at home and abroad.

The doctor has not neglected, as many practitioners do, to record the result of his experience for the benefit of others. During the session of 1875-6, he was assistant to the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women and children in the college of Physicians and Sur- geons of Indiana, and he has achieved flatter- ing success in the varied fields of surgery and in the general practice of the healing art. In 1872 he formed a co-partnership in the prac- tice with Dr. Robert Winton, a successful physician of Muncie, and at this time is asso- ciated with Dr. Hugh A. Cowing. The doc- tor is a member of the Methodist Episcopal

church, is an earnest advocate of temperance reform, and labors zealously in behalf of all religious, educational and temperance move- ments, thus setting an example worthy of imi- tation by his fellow citizens. In his person- ality, Dr. Kemper realizes the ideal of a suc- cessful physician and surgeon, adding to a quick apprehension and thorough professional knowledge the gentle manner and sympathetic heart of a true healer. In every relation with his fellow man he has borne well his part, and now enjoys, in full measure, the confidence and esteem of his brethren in the profession and of his fellow citizens in all the walks of life. Dr. Kemper was married August 15, 1865, to Hattie, daughter of William Kemper, Esq., of Oskaloosa, Iowa, a union blessed with the birth of three children, namely: Georgette Moodey, Arthur Thomson, and William Winton Kemper.

SBURY L. KERWOOD traces his ancestral history back through a number of generations to England, from which country his great-grand- father, Richard Kerwood, with his family, consisting of wife, two sons and four daugh- ters, started for the United States about the year 1792. During the voyage, both himself and wife fell victims to ship fever and died a few days subsequent to their arrival. The captain of the vessel, who was a member of the Masonic fraternity, to which Mr. Kerwood also belonged, took a kindly interest in the welfare of the orphan children and succeeded in finding them homes. Richard, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was ap- prenticed to a blacksmith of Bordentown, N. J., and after mastering the details of his trade, moved to western Pennsylvania, locat- ing in Washington county, where he became a

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prominent and highly respected citizen. He married in New Jersey Mary Minor, who bore him five sons and two daughters, namely: Samuel, William, John R., Abia M., Richard, Nancy and Elizabeth. Richard Kerwood de- parted this life in Washington county, Pa., in 1838. Mr. Kerwood's maternal ancestors were of Irish nativity, James Peden, the grandfather, immigrating to the United States in an early day and settling in Pennsylvania. He married Margaret Love, also a native of Ireland, and in 1835 removed to Ohio, thence subsequently to Henry county, Ind., where both he and wife died. The children of James and Margaret Peden were James, Joseph, David, Milton, Reuben, Hiram and Eliza- beth.

Abia Minor Kerwood, father of Asbury L., was born in Washington county, Pa., where he grew to manhood, working with his father at blacksmithing until attaining his majority. Later he went to Oxford, Ohio, where, in ad- dition to working at his trade, he attended for some time the Miami university. He was married, in 1840, to Miss Rebecca Peden in Preble county, Ohio, and shortly therafter en- gaged in mercantile pursuits at Sugar Valley, a town of that county, where he carried on business for several years, subsequently en- gaging in farming. In 1848 he moved to Wayne county, Ind., where he continued the pursuit of agriculture, varied by teaching school at intervals during the winter season, and in 1852 purchased and removed to a home on West river in the county of Ran- dolph. In the fall of 1854 he entered the ministry of the Methodist church, in which denomination he had long been a local preach- er and traveled various circuits for a period of twenty-five years. In 1879 he was placed on the superannuated list and spent the closing years of his life in Muncie, where he died in April, 1886. The family of Abia M. and

Rebecca Kerwood consisted of four sons-As- bury L., David L., William R. and Albert, and two daughters, Mary E. and Margaret F.

The eldest son, Asbury L., was born June 21, 1842, in Preble county, Ohio, and acquired a fair English education in the common schools of that and Wayne county, Ind., attending one term at Liber college, Jay county, after he was fifteen years of age. In October, 1859, he was apprenticed to Judge John Brady of Muncie to learn the trade of saddler and har- ness making. While thus employed the coun- try became enveloped in the clouds of civil war, and he enlisted April 6, 1861, in a com- pany raised by Gen. Thomas J. Brady for the three months' service. He accompanied his command to the front and participated in one of the first engagements of the war-the battle of Rich Mountain, W. Va., where he received a wound in the left arm and right breast, being the first soldier from Delaware county to receive injury by rebel bullets.

On the 6th of August, 1861, he was honor- ably discharged, and in November of the same year he enlisted in Company F, Fifty-seventh Indiana volunteer infantary, as duty sergeant. His regiment went into camp at Richmond, Ind., thence moved to Indianapolis in Decem- ber, 1861, and on the 23d day of the same month proceeded to the scene of conflict, the first engagement being the bloody battle of Shiloh, which was reached after a forced march of thirty miles. Subsequently, Mr. Kerwood participated with his regiment in the following battles: Perryville, Ky., three days' battle at Stone River, where for gallant con- duct he was promoted to rank of first sergeant; Mission Ridge, Tenn., Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Moun- tain, and other battles of the Atlanta cam- paign, in all of which he earned laurels as a brave and gallant soldier. Later he was with his regiment in the battles of Peachtree Creek,

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siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Ga., Franklin, Tenn., Springhill, Tenn., and Nashville.

February 4, 1865, Mr. Kerwood was honorably discharged from the service, and after his return to Indiana was engaged at school teaching and other pursuits in Wabash and Hamilton counties, and devoted his time to the collection of material for the history of his regiment, which he completed and pub- lished in the spring of 1868. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Kerwood made a tour of the eastern states, and upon his return temporarily located at Fairmount, Grant county, where he worked at his trade during the summer of that year. In October, 1867, he settled at Wheeling, Delaware county, where he made his residence until 1875. July 22, 1868, Mr. Kerwood and Mrs. Susan Craw, daughter of William P. and Sarah Reasoner, and widow of Ephraim Craw, were united in the bonds of wedlock. At the republican county convention, 1874, Mr. Ker- wood received the nomination for the office of the clerk of the circuit court, and in October of the same year was elected by the largest majority on the ticket. He was re-elected in 1878 by a very large majority, and discharged the duties of his position in a faithful and able manner until the expiration of his term in August, 1883. In April, 1884, he was elected a director in the Citizens' National bank, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Hamilton. In April, 1885, he succeeded George W. Spilker to the presidency of the bank, and has since filled that honorable po- sition to the eminent satisfaction of all con- cerned. In 1887 Mr. Kerwood became a member of the city school board, of which he is now treasurer, and to him is largely due much of the credit of bringing the schools of Muncie to their present high state of efficiency. He was one of the organizers of the Muncie Land company, of which he has since been a director and vice-president. For the past five

years he has been a member of the firm of E. P. Smith & Co., manufacturers of hubs and spokes, and was one of the original directors of the Muncie . Exploring company, which drilled the first gas well in Muncie. In addi- tion to the above enterprises Mr. Kerwood was a member of the first advisory board of the Citizens' Enterprise company. It will thus be seen that Mr. Kerwood's career has been one of great business activity. He proved himself a faithful and efficient officer, and in all relations of life, whether official, business or social, he has shown himself to be worthy of the confidence and esteem of his fellow citi- zens, and those with whom he comes in con- tact unite in pronouncing him a true type of the intelligent and well bred gentleman.

ORRIS D. KIDNOCKER, a well- known miller, was born in Morgan county, Ohio, October 2, 1837, the son of Goodlief and Lucinda (Miller) Kidnocker. The father was a native of Germany and the mother of Massachusetts. Goodlief and Lucinda Kidnocker were married in Marietta, Ohio, and reared a family of eight children, as follows: Sarah (deceased), Robert, Malinda, Morris D., David (deceased), Caro- line, Samantha and Luther. The father was a man of unblemished moral character, an earnest supporter of the republican party, and was honored by all who formed his acquaint- ance. He died in January, 1883; his wife died in March, 1865. Like her husband, she was a member of the U. B. church and a woman of eminent respectability.

Morris D. Kidnocker was reared to man- hood in the county of his nativity, in the schools of which he received a good education, and at the early age of seventeen, began teaching, which profession he followed with.

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creditable success for several years. On at- taining his legal majority he engaged in the manufacture of lumber, which business, in connection with agriculture, he pursued until 1865, when he began the manufacture of flour in Ross and Hawkins counties, Ohio, to which calling he has since devoted his attention. He was married in Hawkins county, Ohio, in 1860, to Clarissa Jane Wiggins, who was born March 18, 1838, the daughter of John T. and Nancy (Schultz) Wiggins. The parents of Mrs. Kidnocker were natives respectively, of Kentucky and Virginia, and were among the early pioneers of the Buckeye state. The wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Kidnocker was blessed with the birth of ten children: Ella, Albert, Silas (deceased), Gilbert, Hattie, Lillie, Rosie, Alma, Ottie and Wilber (deceased). The mother departed this life December 22, 1881, and, subsequently, in 1884, Mr. Kid- nocker was united in marriage with Mrs. Anna Witt, mother of Enoch Witt, a biographical mention of whom appears on another page of this volume. Mr. Kidnocker is a substantial citizen, and his life, though comparatively uneventful, has not been unfruitful of good results and kind deeds in behalf of his fellow- man wherever he has resided. He thoroughly understands the business to which so many of his years have been devoted, and the confi- dence and respect of the community are his in a satisfactory degree. He is a supporter of the republican party and takes an intelligent interest in public affairs.

J UDGE DAVID KILGORE, late of Delaware county, was born in Harri- son county, Ky., April 3, 1804, the second in a family of four sons. His father, Obed Kilgore, was a native of Pennsyl-

vania, but for many years, was a citizen of Kentucky, where he carried on farming until 1819, when he removed with his family to Franklin county, Ind., then a wilderness, but soon died at the residence of his son David at the age of eighty-two. Judge Kilgore's mother was Rebecca (Cusic) Kilgore; she died in Franklin county, in 1843. After the usual course of study in the common schools of his native place and of Franklin county, Ind., Mr. Kilgore commenced reading law without a preceptor, but was occasionally aided by Gov. James B. Ray and John T. Mckinney, the latter afterward judge of the supreme court of Indiana. In 1830, having finished his pre- paratory studies, he started on foot for Dela- ware county, carrying all his worldly effects, which consisted of a small bundle of clothes, four law books and $4.75 in money. On reaching his destination, he secured a pre- emption claim and located upon it, but com- menced the practice of his profession. In 1832 he was chosen on the whig ticket to represent Delaware county in the legislature, was several times re-elected, and in 1836 be- came speaker of the house. In 1839 Mr. Kilgore was elected judge of the judicial cir- cuit, composed of the counties of Randolph, Delaware, Grant, Jay, Blackford, Madison, Wells and Adams, and served seven years. In 1850 he was a member of the convention that revised the state constitution. He was elected by heavy majorities to the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth congresses, and bore a part in the exciting discussions that there occurred during Buchanan's administration. Judge Kilgore was very active as one of the original builders of the Bee-Line railway, and was one of its directors for about twenty years. He was a stockholder in the Citizens' National bank of Muncie, and also a stockholder in the Muncie Natinal bank, and in the First National bank of Indianapolis. He was chiefly instrumental

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in establishing the Indiana Hospital at Wash- ington during the first year of the civil war.

Judge Kilgore was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and took all the council degrees. He helped organize the republican party, to which he remained firmly attached. He was born within the pale of the Presby- terian church, but afterward changed his rela- tions and became connected with the Metho- dist denomination. He married July 4, 1831, Mary G. Van Matre, daughter of Absalom Van Matre, a prominent resident of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore had a family of six sons: Henry C, who died in infancy; Alfred, who was a captain in the Thirty-sixth volunteers, ·afterward a district attorney and also member of the legislature three terms; Obed; Tecum- seh, a surgeon of the Thirteenth Indiana cavalry; David, also a captain, and James, a leutenant, both of the Nineteenth infantry.

Alfred Kilgore, late of Muncie, will always be remembered as one of the most talented men of Indiana. With an ordinary English education, he arose by his own active energies to the high position he occupied at the bar, in political circles, and in the army. He was the son of Hon. David Kilgore, and was born April 7, 1833, on the homestead farm, in Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county, where also occurred his death, August 22, 1871. During boyhood he attended the old seminary at Muncie. On leaving school he engaged for a year or two in teaching, then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1857 in Muncie, where he soon gained an enviable reputation as a criminal lawyer. Mr. Kilgore held numerous local offices in the city and county, prior to 1860; but when the first alarm of war was sounded in 1861, he wasone of the first to offer his services. He recruited a company, which was assigned as company B, of the Thirty-sixth Indiana volunteer infantry, with which regiment he remained,

and participated in all the campaigns of the army of the Cumberland until the battle of Shiloh. Though his spirit was brave his body was too weak to endure the hardships of the camp and field. Stricken with disease, he lingered in the hospital for months, then was brought home to die. His strong will con- quered the disease in a measure, but only par- tially, for it was the cause of his death. In appreciation of his talents and services, his friends elected him to the state legislature for two terms. Soon after the expiration of his term of office he was appointed United States attorney for the district of Indiana. Mr. Kilgore married, August 2, 1854, Miss Susan Shoemaker, now the wife of Hon. James N. Templer. Of this happy marriage two chil- dren were born-Charles W., a young lawyer, who seems to have inherited his father's genius, and Mollie G. (Mrs. Davis), a lady of rare beauty

a HARLES W. KILGORE, son of the late Hon. Alfred Kilgore, was born February 20, 1855, in Yorktown, Dela- ware county, Ind. He received his education in the schools of Muncie and Smith- son college, Logansport, and at the age of eighteen began the study of law in the office of Templer & Gregory, under whose instructions he continued two years, making rapid progress in the meantime. He was admitted to the Delaware county bar in 1874, and his abilities soon won for him an extensive legal business as well as a prominent position among the successful lawyers of Muncie. In 1876 he be- came associated in the practice with Hon. O. J. Lotz, and continued the relationship un- der the firm name of Lotz & Kilgore, until his election as mayor in 1879, when he retired from active participation in the law in order to devote his attention to the discharge of his

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official functions. In the spring of 1893 Mr. Kilgore became interested in the construction of the Chicago, Indiana & Eastern railroad through central Indiana and Delaware county, and as a director of the same he was chiefly in- strumental in pushing the enterprise to a suc- cessful completion. The legal career of Mr. Kilgore presents a series of continued suc- cesses, and since his admission to the practice has been a prominent factor in the Muncie bar, standing deservedly high in the profes- sion. Although not as actively engaged in the practice as formerly, he still maintains an office and gives his attention to the prosecu- tion or defense of cases involving interests of great moment and requiring a high order of legal talent. For a number of years Mr. Kil- gore has been identified with various busi- ness enterprises in Muncie, among which are the Muncie natural gas plant and the Muncie Architectural Iron works- being vice president of the latter, and devoting to it the greater part of his attention. He was active in behalf of the city's interest for some time as a member of the common council from the First ward, and while identified with that body was instrumen- tal in promoting much important municipal legislation. Mr. Kilgore is a man of decided opinion and great strength of character, fear- less in the expression of what he believes to be right, and an active politician of the Jeffer- sonian school of democracy. His personal popularity is very great in Muncie, a proof of which was his election to the mayoralty, also his election to the common council from a ward which has always cast a heavy vote in favor of the republican nominees. . Mr. Kil- gore was married June 20, 1877, to Addie, daughter of Milton Hess, of Henry county, a union which resulted in two children-a son and daughter: Alfred and Archa.

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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 30

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