USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 5
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and his military career is one of which he may be justly proud. covering as it does a long period of arduous service in his country's cause.
Returning to his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Goddard was there con- nected with the wholesale grocery trade until his removal to Muncie. Indiana. in 1874, where he began in the retail grocery business in a small way, becom- ing a member of the firm of Adamson & Goddard. This partnership con- tinned until 1881. when Mr. Adamson took the retail department and Mr. Goddard the wholesale. the latter carrying on business in a little store on South Walnut street between Main and Jackson. With the passing years his trade grew in volume and importance until it became necessary to enlarge its scope. He built and occupied the building southeast corner Walnut and Adams streets. This building becoming too small for his increasing business he removed to Mulberry and Charles streets. In 1905 the magnificent and commodious building on Seymour street which he now occupies was erected. To him has come the attainment of a distinguished position in connection with the business interests of the city. His is truly a successful life, but the success which he has achieved is but the reward of labor and integrity in business.
In 1866 occurred the marriage of Mr. Goddard and Miss Mary Hough, she being a daughter of William Hough, an honored pioneer of Wayne county, Indiana. They have become the parents of three children. one son. William H., who is now in business with his father, and two daughters, Grace and Anna, the former being the wife of C. M. Rich. of Muncie. The family is connected with the Society of Friends, of which Mrs. Goddard is a lifelong member. Mr. Goddard is a member of Williams Post, G. A. R., and the Loyal Legion.
JOHN ROLLIN MARSH, secretary and chief engineer for the Indiana Bridge Company, began his business career in the employ of this firm August 1, 1887, as a civil engineer, and not long afterward was promoted to the posi- tion of chief engineer and later to the secretaryship also. He was born in Muncie. Indiana, January 13. 1863. his parents being John and Mary (Mitchell) Marsh. Mr. Marsh, the father. was born in Preble county, Ohio, August 22. 1811, and in his veins mingled the blood of the Anglo-Saxon with that of the Teutonic race. His father, Timothy Marsh, was the son of John Marsh, who came to this country from England and settled in what is now Germantown. Montgomery county, Ohio, afterward serving in the American army throughout the Revolution. The mother of John Marsh bore the maiden name of Mary Clawson, and was born near the mouth of the Little Miami river. August 22, 1778, and is said to have been the first white child born in the territory of Ohio. She died at the age of ninety years, at the home of her son, Searing Marsh, near Logansport, Indiana, September 15. 1877. Her father was John Clawson, a German, who settled first in Kentucky and afterward in Ohio. He too took part in the American war for independence, and was noted for his sterling character.
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John Marsh, the father of John Rollin, was reared under the pioneer conditions of the early days, and therefore obtained but a limited educational training. At the age of seventeen he went to Eaton, Ohio, and served as an apprentice of five years at the hatter's trade, while later he began his career as a business man at Camden, Ohio, as a hatter. He continued there with success up to 1847, when he entered the dry goods trade, and one year later was elected the treasurer of Preble county. He held the office by re-election for three terms, and in the fall of 1854 removed to Wayne county, Indiana. and became president of the Cambridge City Bank. In 1856 Mr. Marsh became a citizen of Muncie, and at the same time organized the Muncie branch of the State Bank of Indiana, becoming its president. In 1865 this institution was converted into the Muncie National Bank, and he remained its president until 1874, when he sold his interest and retired from business. It was only a short time, however, until he was induced by his friends to organize the Citizens' Bank, in November of the same year, which institution was on the Ioth of March, 1875, converted into the Citizens' National Bank, and being given his choice of positions he became its cashier, a position he held up to the time of his death, in 1887. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party, and his views were ever afterward in accord with the principles set forth by this party. He became a Master Mason in 1838, and rose to the rank of a Knight Templar, being always active in the order. In 1854 he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and at the time of his death he had been for years a trustee of the organization. Mr. Marsh was twice married. On the 25th of May, 1835. he married Margaret, the daughter of Nathan and Jane (Carr) Mitchell, both natives of Maryland and pioneers of Ohio. Four children were born of this union, and the mother died of cholera in 1849. August 29, 1854, Mr. Marsh married for his second wife Mrs. Mary Mutchner, nee Mitchell, who also bore him four children. She died in 1899. He was well informed, an excellent business man, a public spirited citizen, honest in his dealings, and kind and faithful as a friend, hus- band and father.
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At the time of accepting a position with his present firm John R. Marsh had just graduated from the School of Mines, Columbia College, New York, as a mining engineer, in 1887, having pursued a four years' course. Previous to this, in 1879, he had graduated from the Muncie high school. After leaving the high school as a graduate he accepted the position of deputy clerk of the Delaware county circuit court. while later he became deputy county recorder, in both of which positions he served several terms under different officers, proving himself a very efficient and capable assistant. In his present position of secretary and chief engineer of the Indiana Bridge Company, he has attained a thorough and intricate knowledge of civil engineering, having few equals in this line in the entire state, and he is well and favorably known among experts in his profession.
On the 5th of August, 1889, Mr. Marsh married Miss Susie Ryan, daughter of John W. and Lida (Jenkins) Ryan, of Muncie. Both he and
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his wife are members of the Episcopal church, and in politics he is a Repub- lican. He was for some years a member of the "Library Board," and was secretary of the committee that had charge of the building of the elegant library building. He was also a member of the board of park commissioners at the time that Mr. McCulloch donated the McCulloch Park, and it was this board that developed the park and made all the improvements that have been made to the present time.
ROBERT MEEKS. Deeds are thoughts crystallized, and according to their brilliancy do we judge the worth of a man to the country which produced him, and in his works we expect to find the true index to his character. The study of the life of the representative American never fails to offer much of pleasing interest and valuable instruction, developing a mastering of expedients which has brought about most wonderful results. Mr. Meeks was long prominently identified with the business interests of Muncie and Delaware county, and while his varied affairs brought him success, they also advanced the general welfare by accelerating commercial activity.
Among the many worthy characters whose careers have graced the history of Delaware county there is none more deserving of mention than the late Robert Meeks. He was born in Monongalia county, West Vir- ginia, July 8, 1822, and when seventeen years of age came to Delaware county with his parents, Amos and Nancy ( Means) Meeks, who were also born in West Virginia. In a wagon drawn by four horses they came all the way to Indiana in 1839, locating three miles north of what is now Parker City, in the dense forest, where they set about to erect a log cabin and to clear a farm. In this task the father was assisted by his son Robert, the eldest of the family, which consisted of eight sons, seven daughters and a son and daughter by the father's second marriage.
During the five years succeeding the arrival of the family in Delaware county Robert remained with his parents on the farm, and then having arrived at the age of twenty-one years he began the battle of life for himself. Leaving the parental home with but a limited education, for only such had been afforded him in those early pioneer days, he began to serve an apprenticeship at cabinet-making with Nottingham & Swain, of Muncie. During the first year he received no wages, only his board, but he soon mastered his trade and was drawing a wage. Saving his earn- ings, he was able in 1846 to buy an interest in the firm, for which he paid four hundred and fifty dollars. His brother Isaac also served an apprentice- ship with the same firm and eventually, in the latter part of 1846, the two brothers became the sole owners of the business, the firm name being R. & I. Meeks. This style was continued for a series of years or to about 1871, when James W. Meeks, eldest son of Robert, secured an interest, the name then becoming R. & I. Meeks & Company. At this time a two-story brick building was erected on the southeast corner of Elm and Washington streets, in which were installed an engine, boiler and the latest improved
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Mrs. Robert Meeks.
Robert Meeks.
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machinery, and the making of furniture was begun. The factory was con- tinued with success up to 1890. when it was destroyed by fire, and although it was never rebuilt the firm continued dealing in furniture and as under- takers. In 1880 two other sons of Robert, William A. and Martin L. Meeks, joined the firm. Isaac Meeks retained his interest therein until a few months prior to his death on January 16, 1891, and the style of the firm was later changed to R. Meeks & Sons, the present style. On the 2d of January, 1892, Mr. Robert Meeks accidentally fell and broke his leg and hip, and from that time forward he was not active in the firm, his death occurring on the 24th of February, 1906, when in his eighty-fourth year. He was familiarly known as Uncle Robert, and was universally loved and respected. His business career was both long and useful, and in all his dealings he manifested a fairness that won for him the confidence of all alike. He led a quiet and unpretentious life, characterized by fidelity not only to his friends and family, but also to the public.
In 1846 Mr. Meeks married Miss Sarah, the daughter of Jacob and Beersheba Jones, natives of West Virginia, where their daughter was also born in 1827, and was eleven years of age when her parents came to Dela- ware county. Unto Robert Meeks and his wife were born four sons : James W., William A., Martin L. and Jacob Arthur, all of whom are numbered among the most prominent business men of Muncie, and the three eldest now constitute the firm of R. Meeks & Sons. Mrs. Meeks survives her husband, and is now past eighty years of age. She is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Meeks affiliated with the Odd Fellows' order and was a stanch Prohibitionist. On the 5th of March following his death Mr. and Mrs. Robert Meeks would have celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of their mar- riage. They had arranged to commemorate the event by having a grand reunion of family, relatives and friends.
FRANK ELLIS, an attorney in Muncie, Indiana, and well known in pro- fessional circles throughout the community, was born in Delaware county, February 12, 1842, a son of John H. and Phebe (Kirkpatrick) Ellis, both natives of Ohio, the former of Greene and the latter of Clark county, and both became early residents of Delaware county, Indiana. The mother was but a child when she came with her parents in the '30s, while the husband and father dated his arrival about 1835, becoming one of its leading con- tractors and builders, and his death occurred during the battle of Chicka- mauga in 1863. At the breaking out of the Civil war he organized Company B, Eighty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, of which he was made the captain, and he was called upon to lay down his life on the altar of his country.
After getting some education in the public schools of Delaware county Frank Ellis learned the printer's trade and also taught school. In 1862 he entered his father's company for service in the Civil war, participating in the entire campaign of three years, and was mustered out in June, 1865. He
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took part in all the engagements of his regiment, among which were Chicka- mauga, Franklin, Nashville, the campaign against Hood and the Atlanta cam- paign. During his army service, in October, 1864, he was elected the treas- urer of Delaware county, reaching home in time to enter upon his duties in August, 1865, and in 1866 he was re-elected to the office. On the expiration of his four years' term in the treasurers' office Mr. Ellis entered the mercan- tile business as a grain and lumber merchant. During his boyhood days he had read law, and on retiring from his mercantile venture he resumed its study and was admitted to the bar, and immediately afterward he began practice in Muncie. From 1883 for twenty years he was in partnership with John T. Walterhouse. From 1882 until Mr. Lotz's promotion to the bench he was associated in practice with Judge Lotz, the firm name being Lotz & Ellis. Since retiring from partnership with Mr. Walterhouse he has practiced alone. He has been connected with many important litigations, his practice reaching into the higher courts of the state. His activity in political lines has brought him repeatedly before the public, and for two terms he served as a member of the city council, while for four terms he was the mayor of Muncie and for two terms was the city attorney. At the present time he is serving as a United States commissioner, which position he has held for eight years.
In 1870 Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Mary E. Martindale, a native of Delaware county and a daughter of Benjamin F. Martindale, one of its earliest pioneers. Two daughters have been born of this union, Eliza- beth, the wife of W. M. Myers, of Terre Haute, Indiana, and Ethel Joy. Mr. Ellis is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Williams Post, of the Sons of Veterans, of Muncie Lodge, No. 433, of the Masonic order, and of the Chapter and Commandery, and is one of the oldest members of the Odd Fellows' fraternity in the city, having joined the order in 1865.
J. H. SMITH. It was in July of the year 1885 that Mr. J. H. Smith transferred his residence and business, conducted under the name of J. H. Smith & Company, from Bluffton, Indiana, where he had lived for fifteen years, to Muncie, and engaged in the manufacture of carriage woodwork. The business, however, has since been incorporated with the Pioneer Pole & Shaft Company, of which Mr. Smith is the largest stockholder and the vice-president. The consolidation occurred in 1903, and the plant at Muncie is now one of eleven.
Mr. Smith was reared at Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the 23d of April, 1843, a son of Andrew and Mar- garet (Horner) Smith, both of whom were born in Germany. They left their native land when children and were married in this country, the father for years serving as a hotel proprietor of Freedom, and there both he and his wife died. In their family were two sons and a daughter. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Smith married a Mr. Hartley, by whom she had three sons and a daughter.
Mr. J. H. Smith was but two years of age when his father died, and
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he has made his own way in the world from an early age. The educa- tional training which he received in the common schools of Freedom was supplemented by attendance at a night school in Economy, Pennsylvania, and later he pursued a commercial course in bookkeeping at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. During the intervening period from his fourteenth to his eighteenth year he had learned coopering, and at the age of nineteen years he began the manufacture of oil barrels at Freedom. In the fall of 1863 he enlisted in Company A, Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, as a private. and was mustered out of the service on the 7th of August, 1865, after a long and arduous career in the service of the Union cause. Among the many engagements in which he participated may be mentioned those of Cold Harbor, Hanover Court House, Travelian Station, Winchester (Sep- tember 19, 1864), Cedar Creek, Sailor Creek, and was at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House. Mr. Smith now holds membership rela- tions with Williams Post. No. 78, G. A. R., of Muncie.
Returning home to Freedom, Pennsylvania, from the war he resumed the making of barrels and in 1870 came to Bluffton, Indiana, where he con- tinued the business.
In 1867 he married Catherine Schaufelberger, who was born and reared in Freedom, and they have had five children, namely: Lillian Elizabeth, now Mrs. Lone Franklin, of Muncie ; Bertha Louise, now Mrs. J. H. Love, Jr., of New York city: Margaret Winnifred, who became the wife of J. Edgar Johnson, of Muncie, and died leaving two children ; Xena Young Smith, a physician of Indianapolis; and Huda May, the wife of Lloyd Kimbrough, of Muncie. Mr. Smith is a Thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Knight Templars, the Mystic Shrine and Murat Temple of Indianapolis. He is also a member of the Commercial Club of Muncie, in which he holds the office of director.
JAMES CHARMAN. Among the citizens of Muncie to whom has been yielded an honored retirement from labor after many years of business activity is numbered James Charman. He has been a resident of this city for many years, being numbered among its earliest pioneers, and through an extended period he was prominently identified with its business interests. His birth occurred in Surry, England, on the Wesley farm, September 22, 1831, his parents being Arthur and Rebecca (Garton) Charman, both of whom were also born in the mother country of England, the father on the 23d of September, 1784, and the mother July 22, 1805. They were married at St. Paul's church at Convent Garden, London, June 23, 1823, and became the parents of the following children: Richard Garton, John, Thomas, James, Arthur, Frederick, Sarah Jane, George, Edward Ross, Ann, Louisa Emily and Joseph Albert. all of whom are deceased with the exception of James and Sarah Jane. In November of 1848 the family set sail for America, and after their arrival in this country located first at Cen- terville, Wayne county, Indiana, from whence they removed to Anderson,
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Indiana, about 1862, and in 1877 came to Muncie. Mr. Charman had fol- lowed agricultural pursuits in England, but after coming to America he was not active in business owing to advanced age. His death occurred in this city on the 11th of May. 1880, when he had reached the age of ninety- five years, and his wife passed away in death November 20, 1887. They were members of the Christian church at Anderson, Indiana, and were people of sterling worth and true nobility of character.
James Charman accompanied his parents on their emigration to the United States and in their subsequent removals. During his two years' residence in Richmond, Indiana, he followed his trade of a baker, and removing to Muncie in the spring of 1853 he resumed the work of his trade here. In time he became the proprietor of one of the leading bakery and grocery houses in the city, and continued actively in business up to 1890, when he laid aside the active cares of life and has since lived in the enjoy- ment of the fruits of his former toil.
Mr. Charman married, May 9, 1874, Caroline Rodman, born in Preble county, Ohio, March 29, 1842, a daughter of Job and Catherine ( William- son) Rodman, who claimed Pennsylvania as the commonwealth of their nativity, and they were respectively of Irish and Scotch descent. They came to Indiana in the year of 1848, locating in Muncie, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The father was a gardener. In their family were ten children, namely: Samuel S., Mary Ann, Hannah, Joseph, Charles F., Edward, Hannah C., Elizabeth Ellen, Caroline and Francis Henry. Hannah C., Caroline and Francis Henry are the only surviving members of this once large family. Mr. Charman has been twice married, wedding on the 20th of February, 1852, Mary Ann Rodman, who died in 1873, without issue. In 1880 Mr. and Mrs. Charman adopted a daughter, May, now the wife of John McPhee, an attorney. Since the early age of twenty-one years Mr. Charman has affiliated with the order of Odd Fellows, joining the fra- ternity in February, 1853. During his early years he voted with the Whigs, casting his first ballot for General Scott, but since the organization of the Republican party he has been a member of its ranks, and in the early '60s he was a member of the city council of Muncie. Both he and his wife are members of the Universalist church. Her parents were Quakers.
AUGUST BRAUN is the genial and successful proprietor of the Braun Hotel, of Muncie. He was born in the state of New York, near the village of Cochecton, Sullivan county, on the 26th of June, 1871. He is the only son of Andrew and Anna ( Klopfer) Braun, and has but one sister, Miss Mary Braun. His parents are of German stock, both having been born in Germany. They were married in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and until their son was in his teens resided on a farm in Sullivan county, New York. Re- moving to Delaware county, Indiana, they soon afterward took up their residence in the city of Muncie.
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Young Braun had attended the common schools in his native state, and after coming to this city he resumed his studies, while later he entered the Muncie Business College to pursue a course in bookkeeping and stenog- raphy. But he never followed either of the callings, for in the meantime his parents had entered the hotel business and required his assistance. The Braun Hotel was originally known as the Abbott House, it having been established in the '50s, and was an eight-room, frame building on the corner of Mulberry and Washington streets. In September, 1885, Mr. Braun, Sr., became the proprietor, and the name was then changed to the Braun Hotel. From the beginning the hostelry has been a success, so much so that nine years after taking charge an addition to the building was necessary to accommodate the largely increased patronage, while in the year of 1894 a brick addition was erected just to the east and joining the original frame. A larger and handsomer dining room was thus added, as well as several sleeping rooms, the addition being three stories high. In 1897 another addi- tion was built to the north of the original frame. This was also a three- story brick, and was another decided improvement to the hotel. In 1899 a third improvement was made in the erection of a two-story brick for the purpose of a kitchen, power and steam plant. This addition was built to the north of the first and east of the second addition. The original frame was not torn down until 1903, when it was replaced by a four-story brick so as to connect all the additions in one building of modern convenience, containing seventy-two guest rooms, a large and handsome office or lobby, together with a writing room, basement and other arrangements, easily ien- dering the hotel one of the best and most conveniently arranged in the state. The Braun Hotel has more than a state reputation for being a splendid hostelry. Its success, however, has been largely due to the mother of Mr. Braun. In an early day she was the splendid cook that gave the hotel its enviable reputation for fine meals and cleanliness. Her son has for many years been the proprietor, but she has been of inestimable aid to him in mak- ing it one of the most successful hotels of Indiana.
Mr. August Braun is well and favorably known in hotel circles and by the traveling public. He is regarded as an enterprising and thorough- going business man. In political matters he has never taken an active interest, but casts his ballot in the interests of the men and measures of the Repub- lican party. He sustains prominent relations in fraternal circles, holding membership with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic fraternity. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason and also a member of the Mystic Shrine.
While Mr. Braun is interested in Muncie real estate and also holds other interests, he has given nearly all of his time and attention to the in- terests of his hotel. Among his fellow citizens he is held in the highest esteem, and is numbered among the prominent and reliable business men of Muncie.
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