USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 10
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Their son, M. B. Baird, received an excellent literary education in the schools of Delaware county, and for a time thereafter was a student in the Columbia Law School of Washington, D. C. For two years after leaving that institution he taught school in Delaware county, after which he returned to Washington and during a similar period was in the government service. In 1903 he came to Muncie and entered the real estate field, where his thorough business ability and enterprise have won for him a well merited success. In both his social and business relations he is popular and influ- ential, and his future, judging by the past, may be forecasted as characterized by great activity in the important things that concern the interests of society and good government.
In March, 1906, Mr. Baird was united in marriage to Emma Foster, a daughter of J. P. Foster, of Summitville, Delaware county. Mr. Baird is a member of the Masonic order in Albany, and also of the Presbyterian church.
T. J. BOWLES, M. D. One of the widely known and loved family physicians of Delaware county is Dr. T. J. Bowles, whose life has been filled with good deeds and labors of love toward his fellow men. He is yet a great student and endeavors to keep abreast of the times in everything relating to discoveries in medical science, and although progressive in his ideas and favoring modern methods as a whole, he does not dispense with many of the true and tried systems which have stood the test of years.
The birth of Dr. Bowles occurred in Milroy, Rush county, Indiana, July 24. 1836, his parents being James and Sarah Ann (Smith) Bowles, both natives of Cynthiana, Kentucky, and the former of English and the latter of German descent. In 1830 the parents came to Indiana, first locating in Rush county, where the father became very prominent as an agriculturist and stock man, his death occurring on the 18th of September, 1892, at the age of eighty-three years. His wife preceded him in death a few years, passing away on the 28th of January, 1886, when seventy-five years of age.
After completing his studies in the common schools of his home place
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Dr. T. J. Bowles pursued a special course under Professor A. R. Benton, the well known educator, at Fairview Academy, and he was then competent to enter the school room as a teacher, following the profession in Rush county. During this time he had determined on the practice of medicine as his life occupation, and accordingly began study under the preceptorships of Drs. John Wall and A. C. Dillon, after which he took courses at the Medical College of Ohio, his graduation taking place in 1869, after he had practiced a few years. This, however, did not complete his medical training, for he afterward pursued a course in medicine in Rush Medical College and a special course in Bellevue Hospital of New York. He then entered upon the practice of his chosen profession at Windsor, Randolph county, and in 1874 came to Muncie, where he has ever since been actively engaged in professional work.
In 1860 Dr. Bowles was united in marriage to Miss Saphora E. Spangler, a daughter of Henry Spangler, of Delaware county, and they have five children living. One son, Herman S., graduated from the Medical College of Ohio, and is now practicing with his father, both having won for themselves prominent places in the professional life of Delaware county. In company with Dr. Kemper and others, Dr. Bowles, Sr., organized the first county medical society in Delaware county, and he also served as pension surgeon under Harrison's administration for four years. He is independent in his political affiliations, not binding himself by party ties, for he is a man of original ideas and has the courage of his convictions. He is respected by all who know him as an honest, outspoken, warm-hearted gentleman, one ' whom it is a delight to honor. He is also an interesting conversationalist, for his mind is rich in pleasant reminiscences of his early life in Delaware county and his experiences as a medical practitioner of the early days.
CHARLES E. MILLER, M. D. During the past ten years this representa- tive member of the medical profession of Delaware county has made his home in Muncie, where he enjoys an extensive and lucrative practice. He is progressive in all his methods, constantly reading and studying, and keeps in close touch with the spirit of the times. The birth of Dr. Miller occurred in Bellefontaine, Ohio, December 1, 1869, his parents being A. T. and Mary Miller, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Maryland and of German descent. During his young manhood the father journeyed to Ohio, where he was for many years engaged in the real estate business, and he now resides in Bellefontaine.
After completing his literary education in the public schools of his native city Dr. Miller entered upon the study of the profession which he had determined to make his life work, graduating from the Miami Medicas College of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1898. After a few months spent in hospital work in Chicago he came to Muncie and located permanently here. A man of deep research and study, he is well informed on the general principles of medicine, but has specialized in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat
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giving much time and thought to his special branches. He has made deep and careful research into the science to which he is devoting his life, and five times he has crossed the ocean to the old world to further perfect himself in his practice, having studied in Vienna and London, and his scholarly attainments and broad knowledge have gained him the distinctive prestige which he now enjoys.
In June, 1903, Dr. Miller was married to May H. Sanders, a native of Cincinnati and a daughter of David Sanders. He holds membership relations with the Muncie lodge of Masons, being also connected with its council, chapter and commandery, and is a member of the county, state and district medical societies and also of the American Medical Association. His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian church. In the city where he has so long resided he is held in the highest regard by his innumerable friends.
JACOB ARTHUR MEEKS. Prominent in the business circles of Muncie stands Jacob A. Meeks, whose life history exhibits a virtuous career of private industry, crowned with success. A community depends upon com- mercial activity, its welfare is due to this, and its promoters of legitimate and extensive business enterprises may well be termed its benefactors. Numbered among the leading business men of Delaware county is Jacob A. Meeks, whose birth occurred in the city of Muncie January 5, 1856. A · sketch of his father, Robert Meeks, will be found elsewhere in this work. After graduating from the high school of his native city in 1873 the son Jacob A. became associated with the grocery firm of Maddy, Burt & Kirby, continuing at intervals with this firm for four years, and during that time he also took a commercial course at the Miami College of Dayton, Ohio. At the close of that period he secured the position of bookkeeper in a wholesale house in Toledo, and in 1880 came to Muncie and entered the employ of James Boyce as bookkeeper in his bagging factory, in the same year pur- chasing an eighth interest in the concern. In 1885, however, they sold the plant to the Muncie Bagging Company, and in the same year Mr. Meeks purchased a half interest from Mr. Boyce in the Muncie Handle Company, they continuing its operation with ever increasing success until the plant was destroyed by fire in April, 1893. Six weeks later, however, the works were rebuilt, on a much larger and more complete scale, and in 1895 Mr. Meeks assumed charge of the handle, rivet and machinery department, which he has since continued to operate with marked success. He is also interested in a lumber business and operates two saw mills, one in Muncie and one in Laurel. Delaware county, as well as Muncie, thus numbers him among her most enterprising business men, and he has achieved that success which is but the natural sequence of intrinsic worth of character.
In 1879 Mr. Meeks was united in marriage to Lydia J., a daughter of J. Milton Gray, of Delaware county, and they have one son, Earl G.
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WILLIAM P. Koos. For a number of years past William P. Koons has been engaged in the practice of law in Muncie. He is able and well posted in his profession, clear and convincing as a speaker before judge and jury, painstaking and accurate in the preparation of his cases, and conscientiously adheres to the spirit as well as to the letter of the law. Indiana claims him among her native sons, his birth occurring in Henry county on the 10th of December, 1862. His father was Peter Koons, whose history will be found in the sketch of Judge Koons elsewhere in this work.
William P. Koons received his early literary training in the public schools of Henry county, this being further supplemented by study in the high school of Muncie, Indiana, and for ten years thereafter he was a member of the teacher's profession, having taught his first school, the West Chapel school of Monroe township, when only fourteen years of age. After reading law for five years under the preceptorship of his brother, Judge Koons, he was admitted to the bar in 1891, and at once began the practice of his chosen profession in Muneie, where he has since built up a large and profitable practice. For two terms he served as assistant prosecuting attor- ney of Delaware county, but since that time has devoted his entire attention to his private practice, in which his superior ability has won for him marked success.
Mr. Koons was married on the 28th of June, 1892, when Miss Jennie Downs became his wife, she being a daughter of Samuel Downs, of Henry county, Indiana. Their two children are Rhea Katharine, born on the Ioth of September, 1894, and Lillian Mildred, born February 10, 1903.
JOHN W. SHAFER. One of the first families to establish their home in Delaware county were the Shafers, and its descendants are now numerous and scattered over many sections of the United States, yet many of them still reside in Delaware county. The history of the family is one of more than ordinary interest, and in recording briefly its record in the history of Delaware county we deem it well to begin with the parent tree in America. He was John A. Shafer, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, January 15, 1775, and his death occurred in Hamilton county, Indiana, July 8, 1870. He was married in Germany to one of the fatherland's native daughters, Sabina Lieben, born December 2, 1772. They had the following children : George, born in Wurtemberg, Germany, February 25, 1800, and he became the father of John W. Shafer; Catherine, born June 4, 1802, married Joseph Williamson ; Adam, born February 16, 1804, married Eleanor Graves, and came to Delaware county in 1831 ; Rosanna married Peter Williamson, who was numbered among the pioneers of Delaware county and concerning whom information may be obtained in the sketch of James Williamson in this work; Christena married James Williamson ; Sabina married first a Mr. Wilcoxson and afterward a Mr. Medsker; and Jacob, born October 18, 1814, married Rachael Frost. All of the children were born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and the father and the entire family left the fatherland in the latter part of
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1819 for the United States. They were shipwrecked and the delayed arrival resulted in the spending of all their money, so that on reaching Baltimore, February 25, 1820, the father bound out three of his daughters for eighty dollars each in payment for their passage. The remainder of the family proceeded at once by wagon to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and from there by flat boat down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers to Portsmouth, Ohio. They located in Sciota county, and there in the fall of 1822 the mother died. Three and a half years after their arrival in Portsmouth George Shafer walked the entire distance to Baltimore to bring his sisters to their western home. The two youngest returned with him, but the oldest remained still longer. In 1832 the father moved to Hamilton county, Indiana, where his death occurred in 1870.
In the same year of the removal of the family to Hamilton county George Shafer came to Delaware county and entered from the government one hundred and sixty acres of land one and a half miles west of the then village of Muncietown, where he resided until his death on the 16th of September, 1891. On the 27th of September, 1827, he married Martha Wilcoxson, who bore him the following children : Margaret, Sabina Lieben, Levin W., John Willard, Louisa Ann, and her death occurred August IS, 1848. Mr. Shafer married for his second wife, May 11, 1851, Catherine Bradrick. She died October 11, 1879. In his youth Mr. Shafer was reared a Lutheran but in 1849 he became a Methodist. In politics he was a Democrat.
John W. Shafer, a well known citizen and farmer of Center township. was born within its borders June 2, 1842, a son of George and Martha ( Wilcoxson) Shafer. He was reared as a farmer lad and received a com- mon-school education. At the age of twenty-two years he began the battle of life for himself as a farmer, and to this occupation he has devoted his life's activities. On the 24th of May, 1864, Mr. Shafer enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days' service in the Civil war, and was honorably discharged September 2, 1864. His homestead farm, where his father settled on coming to this county and which he has owned since his death, is located just west of Muncie, and is a valuable estate.
Mr. Shafer married, November 22, 1874, Mary E. Howell, who was born in Delaware county, Indiana, April 21, 1853, and their children are George D., Bessie, Robie W. and Lina. Mrs. Shafer is a most excellent lady and a communicant of the Baptist church. She is a daughter of Daniel P. and Mary ( McKinley) Howell, the former of whom was born in Miami county, Ohio, June 5, 1820. The mother was born in Ohio and was a daughter of Sarah and William Mckinley. Daniel P. Howell was a son of John Howell, a Virginian and a pioneer of Delaware county, Indiana.
WILLIAM HEATON. The name of William Heaton is perhaps as closely associated with the early history of Randolph county as any other, and his
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valuable counsel and the activities of his useful manhood were of great moment to the advancement of the interests of his community. But the work of these brave pioneers is nearly complete, and among those who helped to build an empire and have passed to their final reward is William Heaton, who passed away at his home in this county September 19, 1888. He was born in Virginia on the IIth of February, 1811. but when only fourteen years of age he came to Indiana, and after living for three years in Randolph county he came to Delaware county. He was married in the year of 1838 to Miss Experience Walburn, who was born in Ohio, near Xenia, in July, 1817, and her death occurred at their home in Center town- s'ip on the 4th of December. 1893. She bore her husband the following children : Matilda, the wife of John Kiger, of Muncie ; Catherine, deceased ; Lydia, the wife of George Gates ; Robert, a resident of Missouri ; Joseph, of Muncie; Jefferson, a resident farmer of Center township; William, the subject of this review ; and John and Eliza, both deceased. Mr. Heaton, the father, began life for himself a poor man, but his indefatigable efforts and excellent business ability won for him the later success which was his to enjoy. He studied closely the issues and questions of the day and gave his political allegiance to the Republican party. During twenty years of his life he was a worthy and valued member of the Methodist church. Mrs. Heaton was also a member with that denomination.
William Heaton, a prominent and well known agriculturist of Center township and a son of William Sr., was born on his father's farm in Center township, October 1, 1852, and agriculture has continued as his life occupa- tion. His estate now consists of one hundred and nineteen acres of rich and fertile land, on which he has made many valuable improvements.
On the 28th of December, 1879, Mr. Heaton married Miss Adda Gibson, who was born in Monroe township, Delaware county, December 8, 1857, a daughter of Andrew and Rebecca (Carmichael) Gibson. The father was born in Tennessee March 8. 1811, and was married in 1836, their union being blessed by the birth of eleven children. For fifty-two years they traveled the journey of life together, but on the 28th of February, 1888, the husband and father was called to the home beyond, his wife joining him there on the 10th of October, 1896. He was a Republican in his political affiliations and was reared in the Quaker faith. Mrs. Gibson was a member of the Christian church. Her daughter, Mrs. Heaton, is also a member of that denomination. The political affiliations of Mr. Heaton are with the Republican party, and in the community in which he has so long made his home he is honored for his true worth and ability.
NATHAN ANDERSON. One of the best known and most prominent families of Delaware county is the Andersons, many of whose representatives now reside within its borders and are prominently identified with its business and social interests, and to Nathan Anderson belongs the honor of platting the town of Andersonville in 1897, now a village of over one hundred
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people. Farming has been his life occupation, and, in addition, he is ex- tensively engaged in the sale of the Page fence wire, which has proved a valuable acquisition to his business interests. He is a native son of Adams county, Ohio, born on the 23d of July. 1855, his parents being Daniel and Ann L. ( Wallace) Anderson. The father spent his entire life within sight of the place of his nativity in Adams county, Ohio, dying there at the age of seventy-five years. His wife was also born in that county and reached the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten ere she was called to the home beyond. In their family were eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, of whom seven are now living and all residents of Delaware county, save one son. Mr. Anderson, the father, served as a brave and valiant soldier throughout the Civil war in an Ohio regiment.
Nathan Anderson attained to manhood's estate in the commonwealth of his nativity, but on the 13th of March, 1874, he left his Ohio home for Dela- ware county, Indiana, having ever since been identified with its farming interests, and Center township numbers him among its leading business men. As a representative of the Democracy he takes an active interest in public affairs, and he has fraternal relations with the Odd Fellows and the Red Men. He is a member of the United Brethren church."
On the 7th of August, 1877, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Alice A. Phillips, who was born July 24, 1852, in Warren county, Ohio, a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Stewart) Phillips, both also natives of that county. The father, who was born on the 2d of April. 1822, died in Delaware county, Indiana, April 3, 1893, while the mother, born April 17, 1830, died here on the 11th of August, 1881. They were married in Ohio, and their union was blessed with one child, Mrs. Anderson. The family came to Delaware county, Indiana, in 1856, establishing their home first in Salem township, but in 1858 they took up their abode in Center township on the farm on which Mr. Anderson now lives. The first apple tree which he set out on this place is still standing, a sentinel over the old log barn which remains as a mute reminder of the early days in Dela- ware county. Mr. Phillips was a stanch and true pioneer, loved and revered for his many noble characteristics, and he gave to the Democracy his active support and co-operation.
JAMES I. HAINES, one of the prominent and well known farmers of Center township, was born in Allen county, Ohio, July 19, 1841, a son of William and Phoebe ( Fisher) Haines, natives respectively of Ohio and Virginia. In their family were three children, James I., Samuel (deceased) and Mary. The father died when his son James was a little lad of seven years, and the mother lived to the advanced age of eighty years.
James I. Haines grew to mature years in the home of his grandfather, James Fisher, receiving a common-school education in his boyhood days. In 1849 he came to Delaware county with his grandfather Fisher and family, the journey being made with a team. The family settled in Mt.
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Pleasant township, and at that time Muncie was but a village and much of the surrounding country was heavily timbered. On the 2d of June, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Nineteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving as a private until the close of the struggle, and during his military career he participated in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, the Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg and many others. He served in the Army of the Potomac throughout the entire period of his enlistment, and at the battle of Gettysburg he was wounded in the right leg. He continued as a brave and valiant soldier during the conflict, and at its close, when his country no longer needed his services, he received an honorable discharge and returned to Delaware county. During the following two years Mr. Haines worked as a farm hand, and he was then married and located on the farm which has ever since been his home, twenty-three years having elapsed since he took up his abode thereon.
The marriage of Mr. Haines was celebrated in 1866, Miss Elizabeth Fisher becoming his wife, and they have had four children, one of whom. died when six years of age, and the three living are: John, Thadeus and Charles, all of whom are residents of Muncie. Mrs. Haines was born in the township of Muncie, a daughter of John and Mary ( Henple) Fisher, natives of Virginia and Ohio respectively and early settlers of Muncie. The Republican party receives Mr. Haines' active support and co-operation. During his life time he has gained many warm personal friends, and all who know him have the highest admiration for his good qualities of heart and mind.
JOHN R. HINES. Perhaps no other citizen of Delaware county has resided within its borders during a longer period than has Mr. John R. Hines. He was reared amid its pioneer scenes, and in the olden days attended the primitive log school house with its greased paper windows, and they were known as pay or subscription schools. And even the limited advantages which these crude schools offered he was permitted to enjoy during only a few weeks throughout the year, for his services were needed at home on the farm. But the privations, hardships and earnest labor of these brave pioneers of Delaware county have resulted in establishing one of the foremost commonwealths in America.
, Mr. Hines was born in Randolph county, Indiana, June 8, 1828, his parents being John and Rachael (Branson) Hines. The father was born in North Carolina March 17. 1789, and his death occurred in Monroe township of Delaware county in 1865. He was married in Highland county, Ohio, to a native daughter of Virginia, and her death occurred in 1838, when about forty-seven years of age. She bore her husband thirteen children, of whom John R. is the twelfth in order of birth and the only one now living. Her father, Robert Branson, was an early settler of Highland county, Ohio, and his wife before marriage was Beulah Painter. For his second wife Mr. Hines married Rebecca Branson, a sister of his first wife, and they became
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the parents of four children. From Highland county, Ohio, the family moved to Randolph county, Indiana, and in about 1830 came to Delaware county, casting in their lot with the first settlers of Perry township. After a residence there of about eight years they came to Monroe township, where the father spent the remainder of his life, he having been throughout his business career a prosperous and well known agriculturist. He was a Democrat in his political affiliations up to 1844, when he transferred his allegiance to the Whigs and later became a Republican.
John R. Hines was but a babe of two years when the family became residents of Delaware county, so that nearly the entire period of his long and useful life has been spent within its borders. Remaining in the parental home until the age of twenty-one, he then began the battle of life for him- self, working first as a farm hand for wages, and later farmed on rented land. During the western gold excitement of 1851 he went to California, making the journey via New York and the Isthmus to San Francisco, spending three years in search of the precious metal in the Golden state and returning with a capital of three thousand dollars. He made the return journey by the same route and reaching Delaware county he purchased his present estate of two hundred acres, paying on an average of twenty dollars . an acre, while the land is now worth at the least one hundred dollars an acre. Twenty acres of the tract was a dense woods at the time of the purchase, but with the passing years he cleared his land and placed it under an excellent state of cultivation, his being now one of the finest estates of Center township.
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