USA > Indiana > Clark County > Baird's history of Clark County, Indiana > Part 10
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Ada M. Woodward, who became the wife of Doctor Sheets on the 12th day of November, 1868, was born at Hanover, Indiana, November 8th of the year 1844, and received a liberal education in Hanover College, one of the oldest and best known institutions of learning in the state. At the break- ing out of the Civil war her parents moved from Hanover to Mooresville and it was at the latter place that she first met her future husband and it was there that the marriage was solemnized. Mrs. Sheets was reared a Presbyterian, but some time after her marriage she united with the Methodist Episcopal church and continued a faithful and zealous member of the same. until called to the other world on October 31, 1906.
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Ever since giving up the active pastorate Doctor Sheets has continued to preach when called upon, not only for his own denomination, but for others. His services are in frequent demand upon special occasions and it is stated with every semblance of truth that no man living or dead has conducted more funerals in Jeffersonville than he and he is also popular in the matter of solemnizing the marriage tie. In the year 1900 his conference granted Doctor Sheets a superannuated relation. He cast his first Presidential ballot in 1856 for John C. Fremont, since which time he has been pronounced in his allegi- ance to the Republican party. His church membership at this time attaches to the Wall Street church, Jeffersonville. He stands third on the Conference roll by seniority and is one of the best known Methodist divines of his day and generation in Southern Indiana.
CHARLES C. PEEL.
At 117 Chestnut street in Jeffersonville, the visitor will find a neat. well equipped, and carefully managed garage, owned by the gentleman whose name heads this biography. Mr. Peel was born at Wilmington, Dearborn county, Indiana, May 11, 1867. His father, Charles Peel, was a native of the Buckeye state, having been born in Cincinnati in 1846. His career was of short duration, having departed this life at the age of twenty-one years, hav- ing one son. Charles C. Martha (Bainum) Peel, mother of Charles C., re- married. her second husband being George Ward. a native of Dearborn coun- ty, Indiana. They removed to Jeffersonville in 1871, Mr. Ward finding here good opportunities for employment at his trade of car-building. He ended his days in this city in March, 1898. Since that time Mrs. Ward has made her home at St. Louis, Missouri. She became the mother of two children by her second husband, namely: Clarence, late of Lexington, Kentucky, died December 31, 1908, and Mrs. C. W. Williams, of St. Louis.
Mr. Peel was reared and educated in Jeffersonville and made that city his permanent home. After completing his common school education he felt that his life work would demand a greater knowledge of business methods than what he possessed and he therefore attended the New Albany Business College. continuing there until his graduation. For the next ten years he worked at car-building and painting, having first served as an apprentice, but soon became proficient and was rated as a skillful workman and able me- chanic. In 1894 he established his present business and has followed it ever since. He does general repairing of bicycles, automobiles, and fine machinery. His equipment is ample and his work thorough and skillful. As a result he does a thriving business, and enjoys the confidence and good will of a host of
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friends and acquaintances. On the 8th of October, 1890, Mr. Peel was joined in marriage to Ophelia Masmer, daughter of Augustus Masmer, of Jef- fersonville. Her parents were of English and German extraction, and con- stituted one of the oldest and best known families in the vicinity of Charles- town, this county, where Mrs. Peel was born and educated. She is a woman of refined demeanor and excellent tastes. She has become the mother of five children, only two of whom, however, are now living. These are Frank and Mary. The other three, Ward, Charles and Eva, died in early childhood.
Mr. Peel and family are members of the Presbyterian church. They take an active interest in religious work and contribute liberally of their time and means to the support of the Gospel in their own community. Mr. Peel has for several years acted as deacon in the church, and has been of great service in promoting the splendid spirit and wholesome atmosphere that char- acterizes that organization. He affiliates with the Republican party, but has never sought political prominence, preferring rather to be satisfied with his business affairs.
JOHN W. HOOVER.
It would appear that Mr. Hoover inherited a love for the business which is so closely allied with the profession of medical practitioner, for both his father and grandfather were engaged therein, and did much toward the alle- viation of the sufferings of afflicted humanity. Mr. Hoover is one of the lead- ing pharmacists of Southern Indiana, and his drug store at 731 East Chest- nut street, Jeffersonville, Clark county, enjoys a liberal patronage. He has contributed not a little toward the material progress of Jeffersonville since he became a resident of the city about fifteen years ago.
Mr. Hoover is a native of Orange county, Indiana, having beeen born there July 22, 1851, the son of Charles Leonce Hoover, who first saw the light in Ohio county, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1823. He was a physi- cian and came west in the forties, locating in Washington county, Indiana. He took a classical course at the State University of Indiana, and graduated with honors. Later he entered the Louisville College of Medicine, and re- ceived a diploma. He located at New Albany in the spring of 1853, and en- gaged in the wholesale drug business, continuing in that line of business for fifty years, being the oldest druggist in the state of Indiana, when he died in May, 1904.
The paternal grandfather of the subject, Leonce Hoover, was a native of Switzerland, and he and his sister were known to be the only members of the family that came to America. As a matter of fact the name of the subject was originally "Huber." Leonce Huber, the grandfather, studied medicine at
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Paris, France, and had the honor of being commissioned a surgeon in the army under Napoleon. After having served in that capacity for some years he came to America and in 1849 went to California in search of gold, and was very successful in his quest therefor. He finally settled in Los Angeles and engaged in the manufacture of wines, having acquired a large and very productive vineyard. Later he engaged in the real estate business with his son, Vincent, dying when a very old man.
The mother of John W. Hoover was Mary Eliza Riley, born March 3, 1827, at Hardinsburg, Kentucky. She became the wife of Mr. Hoover's father November 11, 1847, and was the mother of seven children, only one of whom, Charles V., is dead, he having passed away in middle life. The others are John Wa Mary Elizabeth Arnold, residing at Rockford, Ilinois ; James A., Stanley S., Emma, and Arthur K., all of New Albany.
Mr. Hoover was educated at the Morse Academy, New Albany, and when eighteen years old engaged in the drug business with his father, where he remained until the fall of 1804, when he removed to Jeffersonville, where Ire embarked in business for himself. Mr. Hoover was twice married. the first time October 13, 1881, one son being the result of this alliance, Charles Leonce, who died at the age of twenty years. The wife died August 5, 1897. The second marriage of the subject was to Mrs. Minnie (Conway ) McGrath, the bride being a widow. She is the daughter of Joseph and Mary Conway. and was educated in the schools of Jeffersonville. Her maternal grand- father was the first white child born in Jeffersonville. His mother once cooked dinner for the Gen. George Rogers Clark party, when on their tour of the western wilds. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. Hoover was Mary Cun- ningham, a native of New York, and a niece of Robert Morris of Revolu- tionary war fame. The ancestors of Mrs. Hoover were closely identified with the Revolutionary period, and some of her family are connected with the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Reily family, represented by the mother of John W. Hoover, were of Scotch-Irish descent. John M. Reily was a pioneer physician of Hardins- burg. Kentucky. He moved into Orange county in the early thirties, and died at New Albany at the age of seventy-eight. Mrs. Hoover has one daugh- ter by her first husband, Helen Marguerite, who makes her home with her mother and step-father.
JOHN F. SPEITH.
The proprietor of one of the leading confectionary and bakery establish- ments in Southern Indiana, is a representative of an old and widely known pioneer family of Clark county. John F. Speith was born near the town of
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Memphis, this county, on the 16th day of January, 1862. His father. Adam Speith, a native of Germany, came to the United States when a young man and, procuring a tract of land not far from the above town, cleared and im- proved a fine farm, and later in connection with agricultural pursuits. en- gaged in merchandising at Memphis and in due time built up an extensive business and became one of the successful men and leading citizens of the ยท community. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Amelia Neumeister, was also a native of Germany, and like him came to America in her youth. This couple were married in Clark county, Indiana, and here reared their family. and achieved much more than ordinary success in their business affairs, Mr. Speith accumulating a handsome competence, his fine fruit farm two miles west of Memphis ranking among the best improved and most valuable places as well as one of the most attractive rural homes in this part of the state. Mr. Speith was a man of progressive ideas and tendencies, and to him as much as to any other is the town of Memphis indebted for its business and prosperity.
His death, which occurred on May 30th, of the year 1908, at an advanced age, was felt as a personal loss by the people with whom he had so long been associated.
Mrs. Speith, who survives her husband, makes her home in Jeffersonville. where she is well known and highly esteemed for her many sterling qualities. She is the mother of a family of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, whose names are as follows: Charles, Frank, George, Adam A., John F .. Joseph, William, and Mrs. Laura Schenck, all living and doing well in their respective spheres of endeavor.
John F. Speith was reared and educated in his native county, and since early manhood his life has been closely interwoven with commercial pursuits. His business career in Jeffersonville has been eminently progressive and satis- factory and as proprietor of one of the most successful bakery and confec- tionary establishments in the city he commands an extensive and lucrative trade, his patronage being not confined to local custom alone, but taking a wide range and including a number of other towns which depend upon him for their supplies in the confectionery line.
Mr. Speith is identified with several lodges, being a member of the Ma- sonic orders, in which he has taken a number. of degrees, including that of Sir Knight and is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Hope Lodge, Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Improved Order of Red Men, and the Knights of the Maccabees. In his political views he is a Democrat.
Mr. Speith is a married man and the father of three children, whose names are William, a student at Purdue University, at Lafayette: Amelia. pursuing her studies in the Jeffersonville high school, and John P., a student
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. in the grade schools of the city. The mother of these children was formerly Lillie Stauss, daughter of the late William Stauss, of Jeffersonville, and for a number of years proprietor of the hotel which bore his name.
JOHN HEYN.
The family of this name has been identified with Clark county from a very early period and its members have long been well known in railroad circles. The founder was Christopher Heyn, who came from Germany dur- ing the first half of the nineteenth century and when a young man found his way to Southern Indiana in search of a way to procure a living. He had learned carpentering and had little difficulty in obtaining work at his trade after he reached Jeffersonville. Railroads were then in their infancy and crude affairs compared to the splendid efficiency now seen on all the great lines reaching to every point of the country. Young Heyn applied for a job to the company having charge of the road that has since become the Pennsyl- vania, and sixty years ago built the frame work of the present freight depot in Jeffersonville. In early manhood he was married to Carolina Bowman, a native of Dayton, Ohio, and one of his children is the subject of this sketch. John Heyn was born in Clark county in 1868 and as he grew up was taught a knowledge of mechanics, and learned not only how to work, but also to save his money. He attended the public schools of Jeffersonville and acquired the groundwork of an education which has served him well in his subsequent operations. Ambitious and industrious, he began work for himself before reaching his twentieth year and by diligence and close attention to business has made a success in life. His first railroad job was in 1887 when he se- cured employment as a repairer of freight cars at the car works in Jefferson- ville. Proving apt in this line he had no trouble in securing further work and was engaged at different times by the Big Four, the Wabash and the Pennsyl- vania Railroad companies. At first working in a subordinate capacity he soon obtained promotion to the position of foreman of car repairers and since then has always held that place. At present he is foreman of car repairers, in- spector and wreck master for a south end of the Louisville division of the Pennsylvania, a position of importance and responsibility. He was appointed to the place in October, 1900, and consequently has held it over eight years to the entire satisfaction of his employers. He is a painstaking workman, at- tentive to duty and always on hand when wanted. Among the numerous rail- road employes at this center of railroad activity, none stand better in their re spective roles than John Heyn.
In December. 1898. Mr. Heyn was married in Louisville to Josie, daugh-
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ter of William and Mary Mallott, at Jeffersontown, Kentucky. They have one son whom they named John Geinger Heyn, and who is now attending the city schools. Mr. Heyn is a member of Clark Lodge, No. 40, Free and Ac- cepted Masons and finds time from his business to indulge in social converse with his many friends. He has no political ambitions and gets his chief pleas- ure from his home and family, to whom he is warmly attached and for whose comfort he provides liberally and generously.
FRANK R. WILLEY.
The founder of the Clark county branch of the family of this name was Col. John F. Willey, born at Cincinnati, June 15, 1809. He achieved promi- nence as a fruit grower and a worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a minister. On January 14. 1828, he was commissioned as an ensign in the Twenty-second Regiment. Indiana Militia, by Governor Roy and the year afterward was promoted to a captaincy, which he resigned in 1834. During the Civil war he was colonel in the Indiana Legion, with head- quarters at Jeffersonville. In 1830 he married Pauline Garner, who died in 1875, and one of the children of this union was Dennis F. Willey, born De- cember 27, 1834, On December 22, 1857, the latter married Rosalie H .. daughter of Isaac Prather, a native of Clark county. Dennis F. Willey was commissioned captain in the Indiana Militia by Governor Morton, November 14, 1862, and captain of a company in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, May 26, 1864. In 1878 he was ap- pointed by Governor Williams, Surveyor of Clark county and served two years. He died November 10, 1906, at his home in Jeffersonville.
Frank R. Willey, son of Dennis F. and Rosalie ( Prather) Willey, was born in Utica township. Clark county, Indiana, in 1860. He remained on the farm until the completion of his twentieth year, meantime attending the local schools, the business college at New Albany and for a while at Purdue Univer- sity. After holding several mercantile positions in Jeffersonville, he formed a partnership in September. 1885. with E. M. Coots in the undertaking business. This connection continued until 1899. when Mr. Willey, after a year in the insurance business, took charge of the Electric Light, Gas, Heating & Coke Company's interests in Jeffersonville. Through various changes and court complications of the Jeffersonville Light & Water Company, during which he acted for a while as receiver, the two concerns above referred to were finally purchased by and consolidated with the United Gas & Electric Company and in 1903 Mr. Willey was placed in charge of the business and has continued in control up to the present time. Aside from this his only public service was
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rendered during his membership of the City Council for two years. October 20, 1876, he married Ella, daughter of Col. John Ingram. The family of this name included a number of members who became prominent in the various walks of life.
WILLIAM THOMAS INGRAM. 1
William Thomas Ingram was born in Charlestown, Clark county, In- diana, December 7, 1857, his parents being William Austin and Nancy V. (Foutz) Ingram, who lived on Fourteen Mile creek, near New Washington. At the age of seven he was brought to Jeffersonville, which has ever since been his home. After a course in the public schools he studied law at the Univer- sity of Louisville, but after leaving his studies engaged in the gravel business and farming. His brother, John Ellington Ingram, was at one time Clerk of Clark county. One of his sisters, who married Charles D. Armstrong, died in 1896. Julia Ingram, another sister, is a practicing physician in Louisville. In November, 1884, William T. Ingram married Anna L., daughter of Con- gressman Jonas G. Howard, and their children consisted of four sons, whose names are: Jonas Howard, Homer L., Warren T. and William A. The In- grams have for years been regarded as among Clark county's best citizens. Whether holding civil or military positions and in the various lines of busi- ness to which they have turned their attention, their records have been good as men of efficiency and integrity.
COL. JOHN NELSON INGRAM.
This family name was familiar during the pioneer period, both in Ken- tucky and Southern Indiana as far back as the first quarter of the last cen- tury. James Ingram, who was born in Pennsylvania, February 5, 1790, came West in his youth and was married in 1815 in Oldham county, Ken- tucky, to Nancy, daughter of John and Eliza (Lindsay) Austin. John Atts- tin served as a soldier of the patriot army during the entire period of the Revo- lutionary war. James Ingram fought under General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. Later in life he removed to Jefferson county, Indiana, and died there, March 13, 1827, at the early age of thirty-seven. His children were Mary Elizabeth, William Austin, Malinda Jane, James Wesley, Julia Ann and John Nelson, of whom there are two survivors. Malinda J. is the wife of Alexander Chambers, of Danville, Indiana; Julia A. married John Ritchie and resides at Indianapolis.
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Jolm Nelson Ingram, the youngest of this family, was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, November 29, 1825, and died October 30, 1908. His early years were spent on a farm, with the usual attendance at the country schools during the winters. When about fourteen years old, he was apprenticed to Isom Ross, at Madison, to learn the tanner's trade. In 1846 he enlisted in Company G, Third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under command of Col. Hames H. Lane, for service in the Mexican war. He was in the bat- tle of Buena Vista and other affairs in the progress of the American army to the capital of the Montezumas. After the war, receiving an honorable dis- charge, he returned to his tanner's trade at Madison. In 1848 he came to Jeffersonville and established a tannery. Being fond of military tactics, he organized in 1859 an independent company of militia, of which he was made captain. In 1862 Governor Morton authorized him to raise a regiment to be known as the Independent Legion, of which he was appointed colonel. Through inability to get equipment it was impossible to carry out the original design and after a year Colonel Ingram resigned to devote his time to the large tanning business he had established, turning over his military command to Colonel Willey. After the Civil war he dismantled his old tannery and with the machinery established a new one at Claysburg. In 1856 he was elected to the City Council from the second ward and served two years. He was re- elected in 1865, '77 and '79. In 1863 he was elected school trustee, which position he held for twenty-seven years. On February 14, 1848. he joined Monroe Lodge of Odd Fellows at Madison, and for some time he was the last surviving member of Tabor Lodge, No. 92, of the same order at Jefferson- ville. He was a member of Wall Street Methodist church and was its stewart for many years.
In 1859 Colonel Ingram married Margaret E. McGonnigal, of Clark county. She was the daughter of Daniel McGonnigal, who was born in Col- umbia county, Pennsylvania, November, 1800, of Irish parentage. February 22. 1824, he married Hannah Herrin and removed to Tiffin, Ohio, using a wagon to haul their household goods and walking all the way. In 1833 he went to Jefferson county, Indiana, and in 1848 came to Jeffersonville. He built the first car for the old road in a small shop back of where St. Augus- tine's Academy now stands. It was hauled on a dray to the railway by Floyd Applegate. This venerable pioneer died in 1891 at the residence of Colonel Ingram. The latter had five children: Mary Olive died in infancy ; James Austin, born December 2. 1853, died November 21, 1899: John, born Novem- ber II, 1855, died July 25, 1908; Elizabeth, born March 2, 1859, married Jacob S. Fry, one time Treasurer of Clark county, now living in Pomona, Cali- fornia ; Ella, wife of Frank R. Willey, was born February 10, 1866. John D. Ingram was well known as district manager of the American Car & Foundry Company. He started a's a water carrier and nail sorter and worked his way
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up step by step until he reached the position held at his death. His wonderful knowledge of every branch of car building made him a valuable man to his company. James Austin Ingram was educated at Greencastle, practiced law and was City Attorney in 1879 and 1881. Later he became a civil engineer in Texas, but afterwards returned to Jeffersonville, where he remained until his death. Mrs. Frank R. Willey, the youngest child of Colonel Ingram, has four children: Frank Ingram, Rosalie, Margaret and Walter Watts Willey, these being the only grandchildren.
JOHN L. GLASER.
In 1865 a young German in his twenty-first year and full of the spirit of adventure decided that he would cross the ocean and help the Federal army crush out the Rebellion. He was enthusiastic over the cause of the Union, opposed slavery and anxious to see the great western Republic free to realize its own grand destiny. Feeling this way it was with high spirits that he stepped on the docks of New York after the tedious ocean voyage and hastened to St. Louis, where he was directed to Jefferson barracks. Making known his desires the ambitious soldier was much chagrined when informed after taking the oath of allegiance that the war was over and his services would not be needed. The incipient hero thus foiled of his object was John L. Glaser, whose birth occurred at Weimar, Saxony, in 1844, his parents being Gottlieb and Dorothea Maria (Scheller) Glaser. Fortunately he had learned the trade of carpenter and builder in Germany and was thus not without a means of making a living in the strange land. He had no difficulty in getting a job, as he was a sober, industrious and expert workman, and he worked at his trade in St. Louis for nearly three years. Here also he met his "fate" as the story-writers would express it; as he became acquainted with a fine Ger- man girl, who subsequently became his wife. It was in 1868 that he mar- ried Anna, daughter of William and Rosena Teich. Removing to Louisville Mr. Glaser spent the next four years at his trade in that city and from there crossed the Ohio to Jeffersonville. Here he continued carrying on the busi- ness of building and in 1892 put up a structure which was intended for his own individual use. In this building, situated at Court and Mechanic streets, he placed a stock of groceries and put out his sign for trade. The business thus begun has proved prosperous and to it Mr. Glaser has since devoted all his time.
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