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 50

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 50
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 50

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).

ENOCH WITT.

MRS. E. F. WITT.

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Muncie in partnership with E. Anthony, which relation was continued six months, Mr. Witt managing his farm in the meantime, and he continued the pursuit of agriculture until the death of his wife in 1879, when he began buy- ing and selling horses. He devoted his atten- tion to the latter for a limited period, and, until 1888, looked after his farm, but in that year purchased the Buck Creek Flouring mills of Muncie, which he still owns and operates.

Mr. Witt and Miss Susan C. Stafford, of Delaware county, were united in marriage March 20, 1874, which tender relation was rudely severed by the death of Mrs. Witt, which occurred March 15, 1879. She was a woman of many excellent traits of character, the mother of one child, Roy Witt, and her remains were laid to rest in what is known as the Black cemetery, Delaware township, where a beautiful monument has been erected to her memory. On the 22d day of Decem- ber, 1879, Mr. Witt married his present wife, Miss Emma F. Motes, who was born in Mun- cie, Ind., February 12, 1860, daughter of John and Hannah Motes, a union blessed with the birth of four children: Carl, Pearl, Thad and Clarence. Mr. Witt is a stanch republican in politics, a Mason of high standing, and be- longs to the I. O. O. F., K. of H. and Im- proved Order of Red Men. He is one of Del- aware county's most influential citizens and an affable and courteous gentleman. The mill of which he is proprietor, is located in the south part of Muncie, and is thoroughly equip- ped with all the latest and most improved ap- pliances for the manufacture of flour by the roller process. The capacity is fifty barrels per day, the superior quality of which finds for it a ready sale in the markets of Muncie and other cities of central Indiana. The mill is kept running constantly in order to supply the demand for its product, and it is one of the most highly prized industries of Muncie.

PILLIAM H. H. WOOD, city en- gineer of Muncie, is a native of Wayne county, Ind., born on the first day of January, 1842, near the city of Richmond, Ind. His paternal grand- parents, David J. and Rebecca (Thomas) Wood, were natives of Kanawha county, Va., and among the early pioneers of Wayne coun- ty, Ind., locating not far trom the present site of Richmond, when that city was but a niche in the surrounding forest. Joseph T. Wood, father of William H. H., was born near the town of Centreville, Wayne county, Ind., and grew to manhood on a farm. In early life he learned the trade of carpentering, which he followed for some years, later worked at cabi- net making at Centreville, and at one time, before the day of railroads, engaged in the pork packing business at Cambridge City, shipping by way of the old White Water canal and the Ohio river to Cincinnati and other western and southern markets. During the construction of the old Indiana Central rail- road, now the Pan Handle, he was bridge contractor and assisted in building a goodly portion of the line through Indiana. Subse- quently, Mr. Wood was contractor of a section of the G. R. & I. railroad, also a por- tion of the C , H. &. D. R. R, and also as- sisted in the construction of the Logansport division of the Pan Handle. He moved to Richmond, Ind., in 1856, resided there a num- ber of years, and then became a resident of Randolph county, locating at Wood's station, on the G. R. & I. railroad, where he made his home until he removed to Muncie in 1881. From the latter date until his demise, Mr. Wood lived a life of retirement, and he now rests from his labors in the beautiful Beech Grove cemetery, his death occurring on the sixth day of June, 1893, at the advanced age of seventy-four years. His was a life of great activity, and during over a half-century devoted

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to business his success was most signal at times; but reverses swept away the accumula- tions of years. For over fifty years he was a sincere member of the Methodist church, and in politics he supported the old whig party until its disintegration, after which the repub- lican party claimed his allegiance. He was married, in 1840, to Sophia Fender, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Long) Fender of Wayne county, and became the father of six children, namely: William H. H., Martha (deceased), Julius C., Mary A., Albert and Leonidas.

W. H. H. Wood obtained his education in the schools of Richmond, supplemented by a course in Asbury university (now DePauw) at Greencastle. For sometime after leaving col- lege, he taught in the schools of Wayne county, about eight terms in all, and he also became proficient in carpentering, which he followed with good success, first as a builder of houses and later as a constructor of bridges on the L., N. A. & C. railroad. After working at the trade for some years, he engaged in the manu- facture of lumber at Wood station, Randolph county, where he operated a saw mill for two years, at the end of which time, in 1872, he transferred the business to Muncie, where for about the same length of time he carried on a successful lumber trade. In the meantime, while at work with his father on the G. R. & I. R. R., he became interested in civil engineer- ing, for which he early evinced great apti- tude, and under the instruction of Phineas D. Pomeroy, engineer in charge of the line, also surveyor of the Miami canal, he soon acquired sufficient practical knowledge of the profession to enable him to engage in it upon his own responsibility. Possessing a naturally strong mathematical mind, as well as a decided taste for engineering, Mr. Wood, by thorough study, became a very competent surveyor, his ability as such being frequently called into use through-

out Delaware and other counties of eastern In- diana. In 1879 he was elected street commis- sioner of Muncie, the duties of which position he discharged two terms, after which, until the spring of 1882, he was in the employ of the manufacturing firm of A. L. Johnson & Co. Re- elected street commissioner and city engineer in the latter year, he has since devoted his at- tention to his office in such a way as to com- mend him to the people as one of the most efficient and painstaking officials ever elected to the position in the city of Muncie The plat of New Muncie, including the various addi- tions made to the city, are almost entirely his own work, and he has been of great assistance to the corporation, as well as to individuals, in submitting estimates that have saved the tax- payers many thousands of dollars in money. As a citizen as well as an official Mr. Wood is deservedly popular, and during a long residence in Muncie his private character has proved above reproach, nor has his official record ever been impeached. He was married, in 1867, to Sophronia Darnall, of Putnam county, Ind., daughter of Samuel and Marie Darnall. Mr. and Mrs. Wood are the parents of five chil- dren: Melville, bridge engineer for the Indiana Bridge company; Nettie, student at DePauw univer ity; Ella, Charline and Rollin.

J ULIUS C. WOOD, a well known man- ufacturer of Muncie, was born April 10, 1847, on a farm in Wayne county, Ind., son of Joseph and Sophia Wood. He spent the first ten years of his life on the home farm. attending the country schools as the seasons would admit, and about 1857 was taken by his parents to Richmond, Ind., in the schools of which city he received a prac- tical education. While still young he began working on a saw mill, and was thus employed

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until 1864, at which time he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Indiana in- fantry, company I, and accompanied his regi- ment to the front, the command forming a part of the Twenty-third corps, army of the Tennessee. Mr. Wood's first actual military experience was at Atlanta, Ga., where he re- ceived his baptism of fire, taking part in sev- eral sanguinary battles of that city, and later participated in the battle of Franklin, Tenn., after which his regiment was removed east and joined the army of Gen. Sherman at Golds- boro', N. C. Subsequently, Mr. Wood ac- companied his command on the historic march to Raleigh, N. C., where the Confederate forces under Gen. Johnson capitulated, and at the close of the war was mustered out of the service at New York city. Returning to Rich- mond, Ind., after leaving the army, Mr. Wood began working at the carpenter's trade, which he followed successfully for a period of three years, and then engaged in the manufacture of lumber four miles south of Winchester, Ran- dolph county, in partnership with his brother, W. H. H. Wood. During the succeeding three years Mr. Wood carried on a very suc- cessful lumber business, at the end of which time he came to Muncie and began dealing quite extensively in hard wood timber and lumber, following this line of trade until 1881, when he entered the employ of A. L. Johnson & Co., manufacturers of hard wood lumber, as superintendent of their mills in the city. He continued as superintendent until 1890, in January of which year he purchased an inter- est in the enterprise and has since been a member of the firm, also its general manager. With every detail of the lumber business Mr. Wood is thoroughly familiar, and the com- pany with which he is identified has borne no little part in contributing to the well being of Muncie and Delaware county. In business circles he occupies a conspicuous position, his

judgment being seldom wrong in matters of business policy, and he may be regarded as a noted example of those principles which win success. Fraternally, Mr. Wood is a Mason of high standing, having taken all the Scottish rite degrees and filled the various positions of the York rite. Politically, he has ever been a supporter of the republican party, and in re- ligion subscribes to the Methodist creed, belonging with his wife to the High street church of Muncie. Mr. Wood and Miss Clara Morgan, of Wayne county, Ind., daughter of William and Sarah Morgan, were united in marriage October 10, 1867, the offspring of which union is one child, Charles A. Wood, a civil engineer of Muncie.

p HILIP W. PATTERSON is the youngest son of Philip and Nancy A. (Kinkaid) Patterson. His father was a Virginia farmer and raised a family of three sons and four daughters, of whom there are living to-day the eldest brother, Amaziah B., a farmer in Henry county, Ind., and two widowed sisters, living near Fairmont, W. Va., viz: Mary Ann Ross and Clemenza Swearingen. Philip W. Patterson was born on a farm in Marion county, W. Va., April 10, 1829. His boyhood and youth were spent at- tending the common schools of that period and working on the farm until he reached his majority, when he learned the trade of a tanner. On completing his apprenticeship, he established a tannery of his own near Fair- mont, W. Va., and operated it successfully from 1850 to 1859; at which time he disposed of his interests and migrated to Indiana, set- tling in Henry county, at the head of Buck creek, three miles from the village of Luray. Here Mr. Patterson purchased a comparatively new farm, and during his residence of twenty-

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two years there he cleared up and improved a large portion thereof and erected upon it superior farm buildings and other improve- ments.

Mr. Patterson moved to Muncie in 1881 primarily for the purpose of securing better advantages of education and society for his family. He, however, still retains his real estate interests at his old home in Henry county, which consists of 275 acres of land adjacent to Buck creek, and consisting of rich, alluvial bottom and uplands, well watered and under a high state of cultivation. During Mr. Patterson's residence there he was successfully engaged in raising both stock and grain. Since coming to Muncie, he has devoted his time to the supervising and caring for his farm interests in Henry county and renting his properties in Muncie. In politics, Mr. Patter- son has been a republican since the time of Abraham Lincoln, having previously been a whig; and while always active in the advance- ment of his party's interest, had never allowed his name to be used in connection with any position of trust during the earlier and more active period of his life. In 1891, he was elected councilman from the Fourth ward of Muncie, and is at present ably and con- scientiously representing his constituents in that body. During the last three years, Coun- cilman Patterson has been actively identified in the vast public improvements inaugurated in this city, being chairman of the committee on streets and alleys and serving on several other important committees.

Mr. Patterson united.with the Methodist Protestant church when twenty-four years of age, and, during the entire years of his man- hood, has been not only a zealous worker in building up the spiritual interests of the church, but in three different communities, in which he lived, has aided with a beneficent hand in advancing the material interests of the church.

He serves his church here as trustee, and with untiring zeal. He has contributed liberally both of his time and means to the erection of the beautiful new church on Jackson street. Mr. Patterson was married in 1854 to Miss Rebecca Graham, daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Thomas) Graham, of Fairmont, W. Va. Of this marriage, eleven children have been born, five of whom died in infancy. The others are Rosa Lee, wife of I. T. Lake, a prominent grocer of Muncie; Florence V., wife of Henry Klein, a leading jeweler of Muncie; Mary Frances, widow of the late F. M. Boyer, of Muncie; Bertha May and Sylvia G., are still at home with their parents; Cora P. was the wife of John F. Shore and died at the home of her father, September 25, 1893, at the age of twenty-one.

ILLIAM NEEDAM WHITELY is one of those generous, talented and gifted men that Ohio is so proud to number among her famous sons. He has sounded the same of his native city and state in every country in the world, and his inventive genius has benefited all mankind. The city of Muncie is fortunate in adding to her citizenship one whose inventive genius has already built one flourishing city, and which will materially insure her own future growth and prosperity. Mr. Whitley was born August 3, 1835, near the city of Springfield, Clarke county, Ohio. He was the eldest of six chil- dren, and his father, Andrew Whitely, was a farmer and a man of ability. William's boy- hood days were spent in school, and in assist- ing his father on the farm, where he acquired an experience in agricultural life which was destined to shape his future career. He early showed a fondness for tools and machinery. At the age of seventeen he invented a breech-

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loading rifle, which was so successful that the same principle is still used in the breech-load- ing cannon of the most improved pattern, and in the rifle of the present day. While labori- ously wielding the cradle and scythe in his father's fields, the great need of a speedier and easier method of harvesting so impressed itself on his mind, that the invention of labor-saving machinery for the farmer became the great ob- ject of his life. His first idea of a reaper was a huge pair of shears, each cut of which was to make a sheaf. The application of horse power to harvesting grain had long been thought of and some active minds had undertaken the so- lution of the problem. Gladstone and Bell, in England, fully fifteen years previous, had failed to make it practical; McCormick, Hus- sey, Ampler and others had attempted to solve the difficulties that could not be overcome in the seventeenth century, but none of them, with the exception of Hussey, had been successful. It was nearly two years after his first concep- tion of a reaper that an old Hussey machine came into the neighborhood, and from that time until now Mr. Whitely's life has been devoted to the construction of a perfect har- vesting machine. The year following, he left the farm and went to Springfield to learn the machinist's trade with Hatch & Whitely, the latter being his uncle; he remained with that firm while it continued in business, and later became owner of its little plant. He now stood upon the threshold of a great career; he saw before him the mighty possibilities of the agricultural resources of this country; his early experience told him what was needed to de- velop them, and he set to work to construct a harvesting machine. His creative genius, combined with untiring energy and close at- tention, brought the desired result, and in 1852 there sprung from his brain the greatest inven- tion of his age. His was a complete machine from the first; it has been added to and beau-

tified, but the original idea was full fledged and complete. Mr. Whitely constructed one reaper during that year and twenty-five during the next; operating them in the harvest of 1853, ahd improving and developing them in 1854. In 1855, he perfected and manufac- tured for the trade the first combined self- . raking reaper and mower. In 1856, Mr. Whitely entered into partnership with Jerome Fassler, and the following year, Mr. Oliver S. Kelley joined the firm, since which time, in all thirty-six years, Mr. Kelley has had some in- terests directly or indirectly with Mr. Whitely. Such untiring energy, such determination and pluck always succeed, and it did with Mr. Whitely.

By 1860, all obstacles had been surmount- ed; his business increased and prospered. The firms established through his instrumen- tality were those of Whitely, Fassler & Kelley, The Champion Machine Co., and Warder, Bushnell & Glessner; the latter concerns building Whitely Champion machines under royalty; also the Whitely Malleable Iron works, and two factories in Canada. one of which was The Toronto Reaper works. These combined concerns employed 4,500 men and manufac- tured 60,000 machines per year. They did a business of $10,000,000 a year, and extended the name of Mr. Whitely to every part of the civilized world.

Mr. Whitely constructed the largest manu- facturing establishment conducted on private capital on this continent, covering forty-five acres of ground, and costing $1,000,000 to equip, employing 2,800 men. Meeting some business reverses, he sold the great East street shops, of Springfield, as they are called, and sought the natural gas fields of Indiana, where free fuel and other natural advantages render it possible to manufacture at less cost than in any other locality. He selected Muncie as the best city in the gas belt, and erected his

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factory on the north side of White river; other factories are locating near him, and already an enterprising suburb has sprung into existence, which bears the name of Whitely. With possibly one exception, Mr. Whitely has taken out more patents than any other living Ameri- can, and is interested in nearly 1,000 patents on harvesting machinery; he has designed probably 100 different styles of grain binders, terminating in what is know as the Whitely Open-End Harvesting binder. Being a small, light machine, with an unlimited capacity for handling the shortest or longest length of straw, he received a gold medal at the World's fair on his machine. The output of Mr. Whitely's factory will do more than any other to extend the name of Muncie as a manufac- turing city, not only over the entire United States, but into foreign countries. The Whitely mower and the Whitely Open-End binders are the only perfected machines of their kind to-day, and the demand for them is constantly increasing. It is this finished product that will advertise the city nf Mr. Whitely's adoption. Mr. Whitely is a man of prodigious mental and physical power, and of remarkable endurance. He is a most cour- teous gentleman, affable in manner, and gen- erous to a fault; his donations to charity and public enterprise have been made often and with great liberality: His busy, active life fills a bright page in the archives of American history, already replete with the records and deeds of distinguished men. Mr. Whitely was married to Miss Mary Gove, of Spring- field, in 1867, where he resided continuously until his removal to Muncie.

The new town of Whitely, adjoining Mun- cie, already contains over 200 dwellings, has an electric street railway, a beautiful park and natural gas in great force. The general office of the Whitely Land company is at 100 west Washington street, Muncie.

S AMUEL DYER, superintendent of William N. Whitely Co's Harvesting Machine works, Muncie, Ind., was born in Somersetshire, England, Sep- tember 26, 1846. He attended the public schools until eleven years of age, when he was apprenticed to learn the trade of machinist and model maker, at which he served seven years. He subsequently worked four years as a journeyman machinist for his old employers, then immigrated to America, at the age of twenty-two, and having acquaintances at Mans- field, Ohio, from his native country, he first located there and found employment with the Mansfield Machine works, in which he worked on reapers and mowers two years.

He was next employed in the same city by the firm of Blymer, Day & Co., where he worked as machinist on farm implements for three years. He then formed a co-partnership with Ferris Ogden, and engaged in repair and experimental work, also in making all kinds of models. This partnership lasted six years, and, during this period, Messrs. Dyer & Ogden em- barked in experimental work in self binders and twine knotters on their own account. They progressed successfully in this work, to the extent of placing a complete self binder in the field. Having carried this project forward to the full extent of their means, they solicited the attention of the "reaper king," William N. Whitely, of Springfield, Ohio, to the results of their work, the result of this interview result- ing in the permanent engagement of Mr. Dyer as a co-worker in the great reaper works, at Springfield, Ohio.

Mr. Dyer began operations as a model maker, and progressed from that to experi- mental work, and later to invention, a field in which he has taken active part and interest for the last fifteen years. He served Mr. Whitely as foreman of the binder department, and later was transferred to the knotter de-

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partment, and ultimately was given full supervision of the patent office department, in which he continued until the William N. Whitely company transferred its manu- facturing interests from Springfield, Ohio, to Muncie, Ind., in 1892. In November of that year, Mr. Dyer removed to Muncie, and was installed as superintendent of the com- pany's works here, which position he has filled ever since, in an able and successful manner.

Mr. Dyer was married in England, in 1864, to Miss Catherine Pullman, of Devon- shire. Seven children have blessed this union; they are, Fredrick H. Dyer, foreman of the large Whitely machine shop at San Francisco, Cal .; Henry Dyer, tool maker for the Chicago Screw company, Chicago, Ill. The five younger children, Nellie, Mattie, Frank, Edith and Florence, are still at home with their parents.

J ACOB H. WYSOR, capitalist, miller and farmer, is one of the earliest pio- neers and most prominent business men of Muncie. His parents, Jacob and Margaret (Miller) Wysor, were of German de- scent, and were born in Virginia. His pater- nal grandfather was a commissioned officer in the war for American independence. All the Wysors' ancestors engaged more less in tilling the soil, and were honest, hard-working peo- ple, endowed with that strength of body and mind characteristic of the Teutonic race. As a valued heirloom, Mr. Wysor preserves a quaint old wine chest made in Germany 180 years ago. Mr. Wysor was born in Montgomery (now Pu- laski) county, Va., December 6, 1819. He was the only child of his father, who died before his birth. His mother married again, but re- mained in Montgomery county until her son was well advanced in boyhood. In 1835 he re- moved with the family to Delaware county,

Ind., quite an event for a boy who had scarcely been out of his native county. In his new home he attended school, but only for two win- ter terms, and after five years he returned to Virginia, and there studied diligently for one year. Having acquired a good knowledge of the English branches, Mr. Wysor was ready to carry out his long cherished purpose of becom- ing a business man. Accordingly, in the fol- lowing year (1841) he returned to this state and engaged in the grocery and dry goods trade in Muncie. He felt, in some degree, conscious of the abilities that have since marked his career and won him success, and he anticipa- ted immediate prosperity. His way to for- tune, however, lay through loss, for only a few months had passed when nearly all his prop- erty was burned. In March, 1843, he made another venture by renting what was known as the Gilbert mills; and, after two years in part- nership with John Jack and James L. Russey, he bought the mills and conducted the busi- ness as one of the firm of Russey, Jack & Co. In 1849 Mr. Wysor joined the throng of gold seekers that hurried toward California. His course was down the Mississippi, across the Gulf of Mexico, thence over to Panama, where, owing to the rush for berths, he was compelled to wait five weeks before a passage up the coast could be secured. At length he em- barked in a sailing vessel, which was thirty- four days in making the voyage to San Fran- cisco. After he had been there about two months, Mr. Russey followed by the same route, but was killed by the Indians in the summer of 1850. Mr. Wysor engaged suc- cessfully as miner, teamster and stock tra- der, until May, 1852, when he returned to Muncie. In 1854, with the remain- ing partner, Mr. Jack, he began build- ing the large grist-mill, which he still owns, known as the Muncie mills. It was completed in 1856. It contained six run of

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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 50

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