USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware county, 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 33
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3 OHN McCONNELL was born March 22, 1832, in Scioto county, Ohio, the son of William and Arie (Armstrong) McConnell. William McConnell was born April 10, 1807, and his parents were John and Barbara (Bowman) McConnell, the
father of Scotch-Irish and the mother of Ger- man ancestry. John McConnell had a family of seven children, all of whom have passed to that bourne from which no traveler ever re- turns. In the year 1832 William McConnell, came to Delaware county, Ind., and entered eighty acres of land in section 20, township 20, range 10, and the following year, moved from Ohio to his new home, in what was then an almost unbroken wilderness. He lived upon this place the greater part of his remain- ing life, and in his declining years moved to Muncie, where his death occurred in 1878. On moving to this county the present prosper- ous city of Muncie was but a mere hamlet of a few inhabitants, and surrounding the village was a dense forest, through which wild ani- mals and the scarcely less wild Indian roamed at pleasure. Mr. McConnell added to his original purchase from time to time, and became the possessor of 160 acres of valuable land, also some good town property. He was a man of local prominence, popular with his friends and neighbors, and served as justice of the peace for a number of years. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died on the 26th day of February, 1863. William and Aire McConnell reared the following children: Jeremiah, deceased; Rosanna, deceased; John; Abraham, of West Virginia; Sarah, wife of George Wilhelm; Moses, who is living a retired life in Muncie; Catherine, wife of Samuel Huston. Three others are dead-Levi, George and William.
As will be seen, by reference to the above dates, John McConnell was but one year old when brought by his parents to Delaware county, in the growth and development of which he has borne no inconsiderable part. Reared to manhood amid the scenes of pio- neer times, his early life, of necessity, was one of hard work and considerable privation, and such educational advantages as the country at
J. McCONNELL.
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that time afforded were obtained in the old log school house, which he attended at intervals of about two months of the year during his mi- nority. He recalls the primitive log structure, with puncheon floor, greased paper windows, slab benches, and large fire place, which took up about one-fourth of the end of the building, while the writing desk was made of unplaned plank, laid upon pins fastened into the wall. In keeping with the building and its rude fur- niture was the instruction imparted therein, notwithstanding which Mr. McConnell laid the foundation of a practical education. He at- tended school in Muncie for a brief period and remained with his parents until his twenty-first year, at which time he began life for himself as a farmer, purchasing eighty acres of land in Blackford county, for which he paid the sum of $550. Subsequently he exchanged this land for eighty acres in Monroe township, Delaware county, which he improved, and upon which he lived until his removal to his present farm in section 28, Centre township. His first pur- chase in the latter township consisted of eighty acres, to which he afterward added forty acres, thus making him a very comfortable home and valuable farm. Besides this he owns his father's old homestead, a part of which has been laid out in lots under the name of McCon- nellsville. This addition consists of 132 lots, and such has heen the growth and develop- ment of the city that what a few years ago was a cultivated field, is now a town of itself.
The marriage of Mr. McConnell was sol- emnized October 7, 1857, in Muncie, with Margaret Bowers, who was born December 4, 1835, in Perry county, Ohio. The parents of Mrs. McConnell were George and Margaret (Foster) Bowers, the former of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of Maryland. The father died in Ohio in 1837, and the mother subse- quently came to Indiana and died in Muncie November 5, 1883. Her birth occurred in 1809.
Mr. and Mrs. McConnell are the parents of the following children: Oliver; William R., deceased; Charles E., deceased; Laura, wife of Levi Stipp; Emily, deceased, and Nellie. Mr. and Mrs McConnell are among the few pioneers of Delaware county who live to tell the story of their early trials and struggles in laying a foundation, upon which the prosperi- ty and high state of civilization of the western country has been builded. Mr. McConnell is an intelligent and enterprising man, and for one of his years retains undiminished all his faculties, both mental and physical. He is a man of fine presence, and it is but just to state that few citizens of his township are as highly and universally respected as he. A democrat in politics, he has never been a seeker after official position, preferring to give his entire attention to his farm. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. and the Improved Order of Red Men.
3 AMES McCULLOCH, M. D., deceased, was born in Springfield, Cumberland county, Pa., in 1813, one of a large family, of Scotch ancestry. His earlier days were passed on a farm; merchandising succeeded, and then teaching, after which he was elected, as a democrat, recorder of his na- tive county, without solicitation on his part, and served his term of office at Carlisle, the county seat. In 1856, he became a republi- can. In the meantime he read medicine with Dr. Baughman, and attended lectures in Phil- adelphia, receiving his diploma from the uni- versity of Pennsylvania in that city. He com- menced practice in Carlisle, and at once arose to distinction. In 1851 he married Miss Car- oline J., the youngest daughter of Dr. George D. Foulke, and soon afterward removed to Kingston, in the same county, resided there
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three years, and in the fall of the third re- moved to Lancaster, Ohio, and the following April, a year, after living a few weeks in Leb- anon, Ind., he became a resident of Muncie, with his family, in 1856, forming a partnership with Dr. George W. Edgerly for a few months. He then continued alone in the active practice of his profession until failing health compelled him to retire. He died on the 3rd day of May, 1877, leaving one son-George F .- and four daughters.
EORGE F. McCULLOCH was born on the 25th day of September, 1855, in Lancaster, Ohio. His father, James McCulloch, was a native of Pennsylvania but left that state, emigrating to Ohio, thence, about 1856, to Indiana, locating in the city of Muncie, where he continued to reside for some years. George F. was then six months old, and in .; the schools of Muncie he received a liberal education, completing the high school course in 1870. Meanwhile he received his first introduction to practical life as a clerk in the queensware house of W. J. V. H. Cassady, and after his graduation in the year noted, he accepted a position with Will- iam Steward as a deliverer of groceries, also carried the mail, delivered express matter, and handled baggage as his services were required. In the spring of 1871, he engaged with J. L. Little as a salesman of sewing machine at- tachments for a limited period, and then as a clerk with the firm of Todd & Powers, dealers in general merchandise, remaining in their em- ploy until the fall of the same year. Mr. Mc- Culloch was next apprenticed to learn photog- raphy with Lon M. Neeley, of Muncie, in whose gallery he pursued the study until May, 1872, at which date he became deputy clerk of the Delaware county circuit court under G.
W. Greene. After the expiration of that gentleman's official term, Mr. McCulloch was retained by A. L. Kerwood, the successor of Mr. Greene, with whom he remained until January, 1881, severing his connection with the office at that time and effecting a copart- nership in the law with John McMahon, Esq. The firm thus constituted lasted until August, 1883, at which time he assumed the duties of clerk, to which office he had been elected the year previous.
Mr. McCulloch proved himself both capa- ble and popular, and in 1886 he was re-elected his own successor. Retiring from the office at the expiration of his term in 1891, Mr. McCul- loch turned his attention almost entirely to the industrial development of Muncie. In the organization of the Citizens' Enterprise com- pany, he was a prominent factor, having been made secretary of the soliciting committee, a position which he held for some time at the earnest solicitation of his associates. In 1892, he became interested in the Whitely Land company as general manager of the same, and to him as much as to any other man is the city indebted for the present town of Whitely, one of the most flourishing of the several suburbs of Muncie. In addition to those noted above, he is prominently identified with the Indiana Bridge company, the Nelson Glass works, the Muncie Natural Gas company, the Street rail- way of Muncie, of which he is secretary, and for a period of three years was connected with the Muncie Transfer company.
Mr. McCulloch's marriage was solemnized September, 11, 1883, with Miss Cora, only daughter of Arthur Patterson, of Delaware county, the result of which is two children- one deceased. Mrs. McCulloch is a highly accomplished lady and is a leader in the society of Muncie. Her parents are members of one of the oldest families in the county of Delaware.
T. MCKILLUP.
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HOMAS McKILLIP, founder of the Muncie Herald, and formerly a most successful farmer and stock dealer, has had a remarkably varied as well as prosperous career. He was born in Fayette county, Ohio, in 1840. His father, Thomas McKillip, also an extensive farmer and stock breeder, was born in North Carolina in 1809, but when young was taken by his parents to Fayette county, Ohio. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Sarah Pow- ell, and was of Scotch-Irish descent.
Thomas McKillip received a somewhat limited education, as school houses were few and far between in the wilds of Ohio in his youthful days, and they of the rudest construc- tion, with tutors of a caliber to correspond. The school term consisted of three months during the winter, and yet many of the hours of this limited time were spent in caring for the live stock on the home place-the after- noons only, when available, being devoted to school. Thus the earlier years of Mr. McKil- lip's life were passed away until his majority was reached, when, in 1861, he married Miss Margaret A. Horney, of Jeffersonville, Fayette county, Ohio. But this matrimonial bliss was of short duration, as Mrs. McKillip was called away in January, 1864, leaving behind her one child about two years old. The following year, 1865, Mr. McKillip came to Indiana and purchased a 400-acre tract of land on the south side of Indian Prairie, in Sugar Creek township, Clinton county, where he did a very extensive business, both at farming and at handling cattle, sheep, hogs and mules, selling in the Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Buffalo, Indian- apolis, Chicago and New York markets for sixteen consecutive years. He was regarded as an expert in judging live stock, and for a number of years was a member of the Clinton County Agricultural association. In politics he has always been a pronounced democrat,
and as such served three successive terms as township trustee, or six years in all. For a number of years, also, he was a member of the democratic county committee of Clinton county, and has always been an active and ardent worker for the good of the party.
The second marriage of Mr. McKillip took place in 1867, to Cyenda A. Wilson, of Clin- ton county, Ohio, the result being a daughter and a son.
The panic of 1873 brought to Mr. McKillip, as it did to thousands of others, reverse of for- tune, and caused him to change the base of his operations, and to make a new financial start. In 1882 he removed to Muncie, and, after sundry business ventures, he decided, in 1885, to purchase the outfit of the New Castle (Henry county) Mercury, which he transferred to Muncie, and, placing the plant in the Mitch- ell block, on south Walnut street, issued the first number of the Muncie Democrat-Herald, October 2, 1885.
In March, 1886, he issued the first number of the Daily Herald, which immediately sprang into popular favor, and, being newsy and ably edited, it has come to be one of the leading dailies of eastern Indiana, although the journal was nurtured in the lap of poverty. Mr. McKillip, ever persistent and energetic, abso- lutely "footed it" all through the county, so- liciting subscriptions and business for the paper, and at last succeeded in establishing on a sure foundation this journalistic "little giant," that has so triumphantly withstood the onslaught of its political foes in this over- whelmingly republican county. Mr. McKillip is the present chairman of the Delaware county democratic committee. His energetic con- duct in pushing forward the interests of the Herald has won for him the confidence of his party, and the support of the party given to the Herald has been fully reciprocated on its part.
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J OEL R. McKIMMEY, ex-sheriff of Delaware county, Ind., is a son of James and Susan (Adamson) McKim- mey, and was born in Henry county, Ind., on the present site of New Lisbon, August 5, 1834. In October of the same year the father, with his wife and family of seven children, moved to Salem township, Delaware county, and entered 100 acres in the woods on the Range line road, as it is now called. On this farm Mr. McKimmey was reared, going to the old log school, two miles away through the woods, but going only in inclement weather, being required to assist in clearing up the farm when the days were fair. When twenty years of age, Joel began the affairs of life on his own account, and bought forty acres of woodland, and in 1855 married a girl who owned forty adjacent acres. He set- tled on this farm in 1856, and by 1874 had cleared and improved over half of it. In this year, also, he moved to Muncie, carried on a meat market for a year, and in 1875 began riding as deputy for sheriff A. J. Slinger, was with him two years, and then for four years was deputy for Sheriff John W. Dungan. In the spring of 1880, Mr. McKimmey, who is a stalwart republican and cast his first presi- dential vote for John C. Fremont, was nomi- nated in the republican primary as candidate for sheriff over nine contestants by a good plurality, and at the polls was elected by 1,670 majority. In 1882 he was renominated with- out opposition, was re-elected in the fall, and served until August 27, 1885, when his second term expired. During his ten years' experi- ence as deputy and principal, during the greater portion of which time he was com- pelled to take his prisoners to New Castle, there being then no jail in Muncie, he never permitted a man to escape or break jail. In his incumbency of four years as sheriff, he handled 655 men in confinement, and during
two years of his service the new jail was in course of construction. For some time after the expiration of his second term he was employed by his successor and by the county commissioners in adjusting and arranging the records pertaining to the various county offices, and was also, for a term, deputy assessor for Centre township. For a year following, he was in the employ of C. Haines in the ice trade, and about 1890 became proprietor of the Muncie Lake Ice company. In May, 1893, he disposed of this lucrative branch of indus- try, and is now temporarily retired from active business. Mr. McKimmey has been a member of Delaware lodge, F. & A. M., since 1856, and of the I. O. O. F. since 1878.
The marriage of Mr. McKimmey took place in Delaware county, in 1855, to Miss Anna Modlin, who was born in Henry county, Ind., and who came to Delaware county, in 1850 or 1851, with her parents, John and Rachael (Parmer) Modlin, who were natives of North Carolina, had a family of four sons and one daughter, and died in Delaware county, Ind. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. McKimmey have been born five children -- Linley W., who was for six years in the sher- iff's office and is now in the employ of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad company; Mary M., now the wife of L. A. Perdiue, of Muncie; Sarah C., was wife of W. A. William- son, of Muncie-died in February, 1892, at the age of thirty-four; William H .; and John, who died when about three years old.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. McKim- mey came from Ireland and settled in North Carolina, where the grandmother died. The father of Mr. McKimmey, also a native of Ireland, was but three years of age when brought to America. In 1816, the latter came to Indiana and located at Connersville; in 1817, he went to Indianapolis with old John McCormick, and there helped the latter to
M. n.M & Laughlin
MRS. O. J. MCLAUGHLIN.
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make a clearing before the city had been de- cided upon as the state capital, and was so employed about a year; then returned to the settlements in Henry and Wayne counties; was married, first, in Henry county, where New Lisbon now stands, and came to Dela- ware county in 1834, as has been stated. He had born to him, by his first marriage, nine children, of whom six only are now living. He lost his wife about 1840, and his second marriage was to Mrs. Nancy Galion, who bore him five children. The father, who had been a justice of the peace for a number of years in Monroe township, died in 1875, in his eighty- second year, as highly honored and respected in his day as are his descendants in theirs.
0 A. MCLAIN, Dentist, 117} East Jackson street,
Muncie, Ind.
EORGE N. MCLAUGHLIN .- The efficient trustee of Centre township, and one of the popular citizens of Muncie, was born in Delaware coun- ty, Ind., April 23, 1845. His father, John McLaughlin, was a native of Ohio, born near the city of Chillicothe, of Irish and German parentage. James McLaughlin, the grand- father of George N., came to the United States from Ireland many years ago, and was one of the early settlers of southern Ohio. John Mclaughlin was by occupation a farmer; he grew to, manhood in his native county, where, in early life, he married Rachael Beeler and, in 1834, moved with his family to Delaware county, Ind., locating in the town- ship of Mount Pleasant, of which he was one
of the pioneers. He purchased 120 acres of government land, from the woods of which he redeemed a comfortable home, where he reared his family, and upon which the remain- der of his life was spent. He was a man of local importance in his community for a num- ber of years, was an earnest supporter of the old whig party, and, for some time, served the people of his township as a justice of the peace. He was a man noted for his integrity and high sense of honor; supported with energy all improvements of a public nature, and exemplified in his daily life and conduct the teachings of the Methodist church, in which he held the position of class-leader for a great many years; his wife survived him and continued to reside on the home farm, keeping the family together and looking after their in- terests. Of the five sons and three daughters born to John and Rachael Mclaughlin all grew to maturity except one, who died in in- fancy. The following are their names: Will- iam H., Orlando L., George N. and Thomas J., all of whom served with distinction in the late war from this county. James S. was captured in Georgia while on picket duty, and shot to death by the enemy. The names of the sisters are, Maria, Priscilla and Sarah A., all living at this time.
George N. McLaughlin inherits in a marked degree many of the traits which distinguished his ancestors, and in his veins the blood of the Celt mingles with that of the Teuton. Like the majority of country lads, the years of his boyhood were comparatively uneventful, and amid the rugged experiences of farm life, he learned the lessons of industry and economy which served as a foundation for much of his success in subsequent years. Being but five years of age when his father died, he early did his share of farm work, contributing to the support of his widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters, and during his
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minority attended the common schools, in which he obtained a practical English educa- tion. In the dark days of the rebellion, when the ship of state was almost stranded on the rugged rocks of disunion, Mr. McLaughlin, with commendable patriotism, responded to his country's call for volunteers, enlisting, at the age of eighteen, in company G, One Hun- dred and Thirty-fourth Indiana volunteer in- fantry, for the hundred days' service. He was mustered in, in March, 1862, and upon the expiration of his term of enlistment veteranized in company C, One Hundred and Fortieth regi- ment, Indiana infantry, with which he served until honorably discharged on the 1 1th of July, 1865, with the rank of corporal. His first engagement of any note was the bloody battle of Murfreesboro, and subsequently he partici- pated in a number of battles, including Ft. Anderson, Twin Creek, Goldsborough, Rolla and Greensborough, N. C., being at the last named place when Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox.
After his discharge Mr. Mclaughlin re- turned home and resumed his studies, and in the fall of 1866 taught his first school in the Bethel neighborhood, Harrison township. He followed the profession very successfully for a period of twenty-two years, and earned the reputation of a very careful and painstaking instructor. With the exception of one year, 1883, when he was principal of the Strong City high school, Kansas, his work in the edu- cational field was principally confined to Dela- ware county, and such was his efficiency that his services were always in demand while he remained in the profession. While teaching in 1888, he was elected trustee of Centre town- ship, the duties of which position he dis- charged with such commendable fidelity that, in 1890, he was re-elected by a largely in- creased majority. Mr. Mclaughlin proved himself a trustful custodian of the township
property, and he built several school houses, which were among the best buildings of the kind in the county. In politics Mr. McLaugh- lin is a republican, and as such his counsels have contributed to his party's success in a number of general and local campaigns. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the chapter, commandery and Scottish rite branches, and has arisen to the thirty-second degree in his order. He also belongs to the I. O. O. F., K. of P., the G. A. R. and Patri- otic Sons of America. He was first married April 18, 1867, to Eliza A. Thomason, but a few months later the marriage tie was severed by mutual consent. December 3, 1870, Mr. . McLaughlin and Miss Orintha J. Kilgore, daughter of George W. and Tabitha (Van- Matre) Kilgore, were happily made man and wife and their superb portraits will be found on pages adjacent. Mrs. McLaughlin was born September 5, 1850, and is the mother of one child, a daughter, Minnie F., who died at the age of three years. Mr. McLauglin is an effi- cient and courteous official, an affable and popular gentleman, universally liked by all with whom he comes in contact. He feels de- servedly proud of his success in life, possesses excellent judgment of men and things, well balanced by knowledge and experience. He is a gentleman of good personal appearance and courteous address, and is certainly entitled to mention with the representative men of Dela- ware county.
ON. WALTER MARCH (deceased) was born August 5, 1814, at the town of Millbury, Mass., in Worcester county. His father, Samuel March, was a native of the same county, and a lineal descendant of Hugh March, who came to the colony of Massachusetts from England in the
JUDGE WALTER MARCH.
MRS. M. MARCH.
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year 1635; and his mother, whose maiden name was Zoa Parks, was a native of Harvard, Mass. The parents were industrious and frugal, and, while the proceeds of their farm did not elevate them to opulence, they were very comfortably situated, and desired to afford their children better educational advantages than they had themselves enjoyed. The latter improved well their opportunities, and grew up to fill important and responsible positions. The eldest son is a manufacturer and farmer at Charlton, Mass., another is a farmer near Oshkosh, Wis .; another is a well known min- ister of the gospel at Woburn, Mass .; and Walter, the second son, is the subject of this sketch. His boyhood was passed in a manner quite uneventful, amid pastoral scenes at home. What time could be spared from farm work was devoted to the improvement of his mind and the acquisition of a primary educa- tion at the common schools and the academy at Millbury. He entered Amherst college and graduated in 1837, after a course of four years, during which time he taught two terms in the common schools, and, after graduating, again took up the vocation of school teaching, which he pursued two terms longer. During this time and subsequently he studied law with Judge Ira M. Barton, of Worcester, and after- wards attended lectures at Cambridge, Mass. In 1840, he was admitted to the bar at Wor- cester, and, in November of the same year, removed to Indianapolis, Ind. He engaged in the practice in that city, and remained until March of the following year, when he removed to Muncie. Here, in January, 1845, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret J., daughter of Benjamin and Ann Sayre. Her parents both died at the age of ninety-one years, and resided with Walter March until their death.
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