USA > Indiana > White County > A standard history of White County Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. II > Part 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
After his marriage Mr. Dittmann rented land for a number of years, and in 1911 bought an unimproved tract of 160 acres in Union Town- ship. While continuing tenant farming, he gradually improved the land, made the low flat ground cultivable, put up buildings, and having made the place habitable removed his family to it in 1913. It is now an attractive as well as valuable farm, and all the value except the bare land, represents Mr. Dittmann's earnest labors.
He and his wife are the parents of five children, noted as follows: Bertha, born September 13, 1904; Clarence, born March 24, 1906; Clara, Vol. II-4
564
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
who died in infancy; Elsie, born February 27, 1910, and Vera, born September 21, 1913. All the children were born in White County except Clarence, whose birthplace was in Carroll County. The family are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Dittmann is supervisor of Union Township, and politically is identified with the democratic party.
JOSEPH E. LOUGHRY. An industry whose wheels have been turning and whose machinery has been making useful products for nearly half a century at Monticello is the mills operated under the name Loughry Brothers Milling & Grain Company, one of the oldest organizations of the kind in Monticello or of White County. This firm operates the largest mill and are also engaged in the grain business in the county, and in the forty odd years of its existence it has accomplished an aggregate of commercial service probably not exceeded by any other institution of the kind in the county.
The Loughry Brothers are sons of Nelson B. and Rachel (Wright) Loughry, who came to White County in 1859. The grandparents were Joseph and Sarah (Howard) Loughry. Both the grandparents and parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and in 1855 moved to Lafayette, Indiana, but settled in White County, in Monon Township, in 1859. The late N. B. Loughry was commercially engaged in Pennsylvania, but followed the milling business in Monon Township, and was also a merchant and farmer. The grandparents died and were laid to rest in the Monon Chapel cemetery. Grandfather Joseph Loughry was a colonel in one of the Pennsylvania militia regiments and he served as a soldier in the War of 1812. He was also sheriff of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, and Nelson Loughry was deputy sheriff and was the prothonotary of Indiana County. The late Nelson B. Loughry, who died in 1890, was more or less actively identified with the republican party, served as trustee of Monon Township, and was held in the highest esteem both as a merchant and as a citizen. His wife died in this county in 1895 on her eightieth birthday, and the bodies of both now rest in Monticello cemetery. N. B. Loughry was an elder in the Presbyterian Church both in White County and during his residence in Lafayette. There were six children: Sarah, who died at the age of thirteen in Indiana County, Pennsylvania; Joseph E .; Clara, widow of J. H. Edwards, of Logansport; Albert Wright, of Monticello; Amy, who lives at Monticello, and is unmarried, and Cloyd, of Monticello.
Joseph E. Loughry, the senior member of the firm of Loughry Brothers Milling & Grain Company, was born in Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1842. He was thirteen years of
MONTICELLO MILLING COMPANY, MONTICELLO, INDIANA
lloyd Longby All Four
& Longhry
roughly
565
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
age when the family removed to Indiana, completed his education in the high school at Lafayette, and in 1859 came to White County. His first experience in the milling industry, was as an employe in Cooper's mill in Monon Township. This was interrupted by the war and his service therein as one of the Indiana soldiers. He enlisted August 9, 1862, in Company D of the Twelfth Indiana Infantry. He was mustered in at Monticello, and among other incidents of those stirring war times he recalls that just before the company left for the front a flag, presented by local citizens to the company, was delivered to the color bearer with a speech from Congressman Schuyler Colfax, who subsequently was vice president with General Grant as president. He marched away with his regiment, participated in many of the arduous campaigns of the war, was with Sherman in Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas, and with those victorious troops participated in the grand review at Wash- ington in June, 1865, at the close of the war. In that grand review the Twelfth Indiana Infantry marched at the head of the army, and Mr. Loughry remembers seeing General Sherman refuse to shake hands with Secretary of War Stanton. He received his honorable discharge in Washington, and then returned to White County, laying aside the arms of warfare for the implements of peace. He took a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Indianapolis, and then was given active management of the Cooper mill. In 1869 he went to Attica, Indiana, was employed there in a mill, but in the following year returned to Monticello and took charge of the Monticello mills.
It was on April 22, 1872, that Mr. Loughry and his two brothers established the firm of Loughry Brothers Milling & Grain Company, and in 1915 they celebrated the forty-third anniversary of their continuous association as business partners.
Joseph E. Loughry was married June 3, 1873, to Miss Nancy Turner, daughter of William and Susanna (Imes) Turner. To their marriage have been born three children: Louise T., wife of W. E. Clapham, of Fort Wayne; Mabel, wife of W. C. Taylor, of Seattle, Washington, and William N., at home in Monticello. Mr. Loughry has always manifested a general interest in public affairs, and has identified himself with a number of movements for local improvement and betterment. He is a Mason, a member of Libanus Lodge, No. 154, of Monticello, and he has occupied the chair of Most Worshipful Master. He is also a member of the G. A. R., and was commander of Post Tippecanoe, No. 51. Mrs. Loughry is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
ALBERT W. LOUGHRY. Mention has been made on other pages of this history of the firm of Loughry Brothers, millers and grain mer-
566
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
chants at Monticello. This is one of the oldest and at the same time one of the most prosperous institutions in a commercial sense in White County. One member of the firm who for many years has contributed his resources and energy to the upbuilding of the business, and who has at the same time been a valuable citizen in his relations toward the com- munity, is Albert W. Loughry.
Albert W. Loughry was born in Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsyl- vania, June 9, 1847. His parents were Nelson B. and Rachel (Wright) Loughry, and his grandparents were Joseph and Sarah (Howard) Loughry, members of both these generations being referred to more at length in a sketch of Joseph E. Loughry on other pages. Albert W. Loughry grew up in Pennsylvania, acquired a common school education, and spent several years of his early manhood as a farm worker. He learned the milling business in the establishment of which for forty-three years he has been a part owner.
Mr. Loughry is a charter member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and a Blue Lodge Mason. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church. On May 3, 1881, he married Sallie Kendall, a daughter of Charles W. and Mary E. (Spencer) Kendall, and through her mother a granddaughter of George A. and Sarah (Reynolds) Spencer. The Spencers as told elsewhere were among the county's earliest and most prominent settlers. George A. Spencer and wife came to the county about 1833, settling in Big Creek Township, where he developed a farm and followed agriculture for many years. George A. Spencer was a squire or justice of the peace, took a great interest in public affairs, and though a democrat, was not a seeker for office beyond his position as justice of the peace. There were seven children in the Spencer family, all of them now deceased and at rest in Monticello.
Charles W. Kendall, the father of Mrs. Loughry, was born in Pennsyl- vania and came to Indiana when a young man, joining the pioneers who were already settled in the county. For many years he was a drygoods merchant in Monticello, was married in that town, and he and his wife had six children, three of whom are still living. He was a man whose name was identified with many local concerns during the last century, he was interested in all movements for local betterment, was president and stockholder in the first local bank, and was postmaster in Monticello during the Civil war. His death occurred in 1875, and his wife passed away in 1901. Mr. Kendall was an elder in the Presbyterian Church and a member of the Masonic fraternity in Monticello.
To Mr. and Mrs. Albert W. Loughry three children have been born, namely : Howard Kendall, born March 21, 1882, and a graduate of the West Point Military Academy; Maynard, born April 17, 1889, and a
567
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
bookkeeper in his father's mill, and Chester, born October 28, 1893, now pursuing a course of studies in the University of Indiana.
JOHN PARSONS GARDNER .* Among the early settlers of White County was John Parsons Gardner of Virginia, descendant of Sir Thomas Gardner, Captain of Horse to Charles I of England. John P. Gardner married Martha Ellen Higgins of Maryland, a descendant of Ebenezer Higgins (1757-1842) of New York. They lived in Romney, Virginia.
Mr. Gardner was both a farmer and a miller. On account of the threatening dangers of war, he brought his family north, arriving in Monticello October 1, 1860. They stopped at the Iden Hotel, then on the lot north of the present Forbis Hotel, until they found a place to live. Mr. Gardner took charge of the running of the flour mill for the Underwoods, later for I. & J. C. Reynolds. He died in 1865 after a short illness caused by an accident. Mr. Gardner was a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church. His wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church at Monticello.
The children of their marriage were: Joseph Jackson, living in Chicago; Mary Elizabeth, who married Louis Fisher, of Chalmers, and is now living in Steele, North Dakota; Nancy Jane, living in Cleveland, North Dakota; Hester Mariah, who married Abner Foye, now deceased ; James Michael, living in Camden, Indiana; Florence Virginia, who married Edwin Foye, living in Cleveland, North Dakota; William Higgins, living in Delphi, Indiana, and Charles David, living in Monti- cello, and the only one of the children born after the family came north.
JAMES MICHAEL GARDNER .* For many years a resident of White County, whither he was brought as an infant from Virginia, his native state, by his parents, John Parsons and Martha Ellen Gardner. He was married January 27, 1876, to Mary Charlotte, daughter of William Beaver and Sarah Anne Keefer.
At the time of his marriage Mr. Gardner was employed as miller in the flour mill owned by William B. Keefer and Robert Roberts, and he has followed that occupation the greater part of his life. At one. time he and Walter Spencer owned the mill formerly owned by Loughey Bros., and later they built a mill in Monon. In 1904 Mr. Gardner moved his family to Camden, Indiana, where he still lives. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are active members of the English Lutheran Church at Camden. They live quiet, unassuming lives, are happy in their chil- dren and grandchildren, their books and friends.
*By Miss Gardner, librarian of the Monticello Library.
568
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
Their children are: Nora Gwendolen, living in Monticello; Bessie Lyndall, who married Lee Basil Martin, of Attica, Indiana, and now live in Springfield, Illinois, and have one son, James Lucius; Nelle Margaret, living in Springfield, Illinois; Harry Keefer, who married Carolyne Bennett, lives near Camden, and they have two children, Harry Bennett and Mary Elizabeth; Frank Dale, who now lives in El Paso, Texas, married Ethel Snowburger, of Delphi; James Carson, who now lives in Decatur, Illinois, married Winefried Cole, of that city, and William Englebright, living with his parents in Camden. ..
DAN MCCUAIG one of the old and honored residents of White County, now living retired at Monticello, was for many years engaged in farming and stockraising operations in Union Township, and through a life of industry and well-directed effort accumulated a substantial property and won his fellow-citizens' regard and esteem. Mr. McCuaig was born near Campbeltown, Argyllshire, Scotland, November 9, 1839, and is a son of Neil and Margaret (Johnston) McCuaig.
The McCuaig family emigrated to the United States in 1842 and first located near Marietta, Ohio, from whence they removed to Cin- cinnati, and in 1856 came to White County, Indiana, locating in September of that year in Union Township. There Neil McCuaig con- tinued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life, but did not live to enjoy a full measure of success, as his death occurred in 1861. He was a democrat in politics, but never took any active part in public affairs, his entire time being devoted to the cultivation of his land. Mrs. McCuaig survived her husband until 1886, when she died and was laid to rest beside him at Monticello. Of their ten children, seven grew to maturity.
Dan McCuaig was three years of age when the family emigrated to America, and was a lad of fourteen years when he located in White County, his education being finished in the primitive district schools of his day. At the time of his father's death he took over the manage- ment of the home farm, and continued to be engaged in successful farm- ing and stock raising operations during the remainder of his active career, which ended in 1901 when he retired and took up his residence at Monticello, his present home. A democrat in his political views, Mr. McCuaig served as trustee of Union Township on two occasions, once by appointment and once by election, but he has not been an office seeker, preferring to serve his community rather as a citizen than as an official. He has long been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and for some years served as elder therein.
In 1874 Mr. McCuaig was married to Miss Jeanette Breckenridge,
569
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
daughter of John and Martha (Dunlap) Breckenridge, pioneers of White County, whence they came in 1848. Four children have been born to this union: John, who is engaged in farming operations in Carroll County, Indiana; Frank, who is deputy treasurer of White County ; David, who is connected with a banking institution at Monti cello, Indiana, and Alvin, whose death occurred in March, 1899.
RICHARD HINSHAW. Among the native-born citizens of White County who have spent their lives within its boundaries, and as far as possible have aided its growth and development, whether relating to its agricultural or mercantile interests, is Richard Hinshaw, now prosperously engaged in the fuel business at Monticello. He was born April 23, 1861, in Liberty Township, a son of Richard and Mary (Hickman) Hinshaw, both of whom spent their last years in White County, their bodies being laid to rest in Clarke's cemetery. His father crossed the plains with the gold seekers of 1849, and after spending a few years in California returned to the East, locating in Indiana prior to the outbreak of the Civil war. 'Assuming contracts for digging ditches, he worked all through the northern part of White County.
Educated in the district schools, Richard Hinshaw began the battle of life for himself at an early age, and being a youth of energy and ambition met with assured success in his undertakings. He became thoroughly acquainted with the various branches of agriculture, and for twenty-four consecutive years was engaged in farming in Monon Township. Removing to Monticello in 1904, Mr. Hinshaw embarked in the coal business, and as a dealer in fuel has built up a large and highly satisfactory trade.
Mr. Hinshaw married, December 26, 1885, Miss Rosa Jost, a daugh- ter of John M. and Elizabeth (Earl) Jost. Four children have been born of their union, namely: Earl, who married Sadie Burns; Glenn, who lived but four short months; Maud, wife of Earl Burns; and Ray, who married Merle Ginn. Politically Mr. Hinshaw is an earnest sup- porter of the principles of the democratic party. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 107; of the Improved Order of Red Men, No. 578; and of the Loyal Order of Moose, No. 1549, all in Monticello.
GUY R. COFFIN, M. D. Among the representative members of the White County medical fraternity is found Dr. G. R. Coffin, who has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Monticello since 1908. He was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, October 21, 1874, and is a
570
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
son of Oliver G. and Anna D. (Tharp) Coffin, both of whom are now deceased and buried at Frankfort, Indiana.
After securing his preliminary training in the public schools of his native county, Guy R. Coffin prepared himself for college, and entered Saint Louis University, from which he was duly graduated. His medical studies were pursued at the Indiana University Medical School, where he was graduated in 1908, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and from that time to the present has been engaged in practice at Monticello, where he has been successful in building up a large pro- fessional business. He belongs to the various medical organizations, and is well known in fraternal circles holding membership in the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Haymakers, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Modern Woodmen of America, of Monticello, Indiana. His practice is broad and general in its character, and he is well and favorably known among the mem- bers of his calling.
Doctor Coffin was married December 26, 1896, to Miss Ida Snively, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Bernice.
JAMES HAMILTON HENDERSON. A family that has long been iden- tified with White County is that represented by the late James Hamilton Henderson, of Monticello. Mrs. Henderson, his widow, is still living at Monticello, and the name has been known and honored in this county for over two generations.
James Hamilton Henderson was born at Idaville, White County, December 27, 1860, a son of Matthew and Elizabeth (McCully) Hen- derson. His parents came to White County some years before the war and spent their lives here. His father was a blacksmith, a trade he followed at Idaville, and subsequently was a merchant, dealing in boots and shoes at Monticello, and also a blacksmith. For two terms he held the office of sheriff. He died May 30, 1887.
Matthew Henderson, the father of James Henderson, was married three times; first, to a Miss Barnes, and they had two sons, George and John. The second marriage was with Elizabeth McCully, and James Henderson was one of the children born of this union. The third mar- riage was with Maggie Ross, and two daughters were born to them, Maude and Jessie.
James Hamilton Henderson acquired a common school education and as a boy learned the blacksmith's trade under his father. When his father died he succeeded to the business. Monticello was his home and he died here after an honorable and successful career January 7, 1905.
571
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
The late Mr. Henderson is remembered as a useful citizen and one who was greatly interested in public affairs. He served as member of the city council and for several years was town marshal. He was a democrat in politics, following in the same political faith as his father. His fraternal affiliations were with the Masons, the Maccabees, the Odd Fellows, all of Monticello, Indiana, and he belonged to the Meth- odist Church. On July 11, 1894, Mr. Henderson married Miss Lillian Southworth. To their marriage were born two children, Valorus HI. and Doris, twins, but the daughter is deceased, and the son is a student in the eighth grade of the Monticello public schools.
Mrs. Lillian Henderson is a native of Carroll County, Indiana, born December 9, 1866, the younger of the children, two sons and five daugh- ters, born to Valorus N. and Margaret (Linkhaur) Southworth. Only two of the family are living, Mrs. Henderson and her sister, Violet, who is the wife of Philip Parcel, residents of Monticello. They have a son and daughter, Gertrude, the widow of John Murray, and Frank, a resi- dent of Logansport and a cigarmaker. Both of Mrs. Henderson's parents are deceased. Mrs. Henderson was educated in the public schools and she is a member of the Methodist Church at Monticello, Indiana.
JASPER A. BAER. The agricultural interests of Union Township have an able and progressive representative in the person of J. A. Baer, who is intelligently cultivating the old home property of 225 acres, as well as ten acres in another tract. He was born on the farm which he now occupies, September 1, 1877, and is a son of Benjamin and Phebe M. (Carney) Baer.
Benjamin Baer, the grandfather of J. A. Baer, was a resident of Erie County, New York, at the time of his marriage in 1827 to Nancy Hoil, and in 1837 moved across the Canadian line, but later returned to New York. He was engaged in farming throughout his career, and died in 1849. Nancy Hoil was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, November 23, 1806, and subsequently moved with her parents to Erie County, New York. In later years she frequently related of the stirring times of the War of 1812, and remembered fleeing with her father and the other members of the family into the interior when the British forces crossed the frontier, as well as the burning of Buffalo and the destruction of Fort Erie. She died January 17, 1887, in the faith of the German Lutheran Church, in which she had been an active worker in both church and Sunday school.
Benjamin Baer, the father of J. A. Baer, was born March 6, 1842, near Akron, Ohio, and as a youth located on a farm known as the
572
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
Jacob Fross place, about six miles north of Monticello, in. Liberty Township, White County, Indiana. He learned the milling trade under his brother, David Baer, at Lockport, Indiana, and later worked with Henry Shafer, who was operating a grist mill at Norway, White County. Subsequently he entered the canal boat service between the cities of Toledo and Vincennes, and in later years frequently referred to this as the most interesting period of his life. On February 16, 1865, Mr. Baer enlisted in Company G, One Hundred Fifty-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and after serving six months as a soldier was given a hospital discharge, August 28, 1865, at Louisville, Ken- tucky. At that time he again engaged in farming in Union Township, and through long years of effort and patient endeavor succeeded in developing one of the handsome and valuable farms of this locality, with the finest of improvements of every kind. He was a great believer in progress and was quick to grasp new methods in his work. Mr. Baer was a man universally respected in his community, was baptized in the German Lutheran Church, and for many years took an active part in Sunday school work in the church at Norway, where he served in the capacity of treasurer. His political belief was that of the republican party. At the time of his death, August 6, 1913, Mr. Baer was one of the oldest members of Monticello Lodge, No. 107, and Stewart Encampment, No. 159, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also held membership in Tippecanoe Post, No. 51, Grand Army of the Republic. On October 10, 1876, he was married to Phebe M. Carney, and they became the parents of three children: Jasper A., who married Lillian Tarr, a daughter of Samuel Tarr; Frank M., who married Lottie Ray, and has one child, Marguerite; and Barnard M., who is single.
Jasper A. Baer was educated in the public schools of Union Town- ship, was brought up to agricultural pursuits, and has devoted his entire career to farming and the raising of livestock. His property, the home farm of 225 acres, gives ample evidence of his ability, thrift and good management, and its improvements are modern in every respect. He also cultivates a 10-acre tract, and this has improvements of its own. In his community Mr. Baer is regarded as a good and public-spirited citizen, but his only public services have been in the postoffice, where he served for three years. He is a republican in his political views, and his fraternal connections include membership in the Monticello Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. With his family he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Baer was married March 3, 1901, to Miss Lillian B. Tarr, and
573
HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY
they are the parents of four children: Gavis, born December 12, 1903, in Union Township; Daurice, born October 16, 1906, at Michigan City, Indiana; Marian Alberta, born January 22, 1911, at Quincy, Illinois; and Eliza Helen, born March 7, 1914, in Union Township.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.