USA > Indiana > Clark County > Baird's history of Clark County, Indiana > Part 9
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Ebenezer Morgan, the subject's great-grandfather, migrated from his native state of Connecticut to Clark county, Indiana, in an early pioneer day. and settled in Silver Creek township, where he developed a farm and became a successful agriculturist and influential man of affairs. Shortly after be- coming settled in his new home in the forest he found it necessary to return to Connecticut, and in order to save expense made the trip there and back on foot, an experience fraught with many hardships and not a few dangers. This sturdy old pioneer took part in the various wars against the savages in an early ·day and later served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war. The old flint lock pistol which he carried during the border troubles has been handed down to his descendants, and is now in possession of James S. Keigwin, who prizes it greatly as a family relic. Sylvester Morgan, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Keigwin, came from Morgantown. Virginia, to Jeffersonville, Indiana, by fa: boat. and in partnership with his father-in-law, kept one of the first taver ?? in the town which appears to have been quite extensively patronized. He ats did a thriving business for a number of years, transferring people across the river to Louisville, and in connection with these two enterprises operated ::
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stage line between Jeffersonville and Charlestown, which proved quite re- munerative.
As already indicated the Morgans and Keigwins have long been identified with the history of Jeffersonville and neighboring towns, and both names are closely interwoven with the rise and growth of various important local enter- prises. The Keigwins were intensely loyal during the rebellion, two of the subject's uncles. James and Albert Keigwin, serving from the beginning to the end of the war, the former as colonel of the Forty-ninth Infantry, the latter as captain of his company. After the war Colonel Keigwin was a business man of Jeffersonville for about thirty years and later was appointed superin- tendent of the National cemetery at Louisville, in which capacity he served untl his death, Albert Keigwin was for many years a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian church, but is now living a retired life in the city of New York.
James S. Keigwin, whose name introduces this article, was reared in Jef- fersonville, enjoyed the best educational advantages the public schools of the city afforded, and when a youth in his teens began his career as driver for the Adams Express Company. This not being exactly to his liking, he resigned his place at the end of four months, and accepted a better and more lucrative position with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad with which he remained twenty-five years, his first post being that of mail boy, from which he rose by successive promotions to revising clerk. abstract clerk and inter-change clerk, each position of much greater importance than the preceding, as well as commanding a corresponding increase of salary. During his long period of service wth the Louisville & Nashville, Mr. Keigwin filled his several posts with ability.
Mr. Keigwin's principal reason for leaving the railway service was his appointment in January. 1907. as Justice of the Peace for Jeffersonville town- ship. the duties of which he discharged in connection with his clerical duties for a period of one year, when he severed his connection with the road to de- vote his entire time to the business of his office. Since his election as justice. he has earned an enviable reputation as a capable and reliable official. The dignity with which Mr. Keigwin ties the nuptial knot has made him very popular with those matrimonially inclined and he is now widely known as the "marrying squire," having united eight hundred and fifty-four couples in the lunds of wedlock from January 12. 1907, to January 20. 1908, a record per- haps without parallel in the state.
On the 29th of December. 1886, Mr. Keigwin was united in marriage with Anna Nixon, whose birth occurred in Jeffersonville, Indiana. July 26. 1865. Her father. Benjamin T. Nixon, late of Jeffersonville, was born in Washington county, in the year 1826, and departed this life on the 2d day of July, 1908. The maiden name of Mrs. Nixon was Sarah Reese: she was
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born at Charlestown, Clark county, November 26, 1835, bore her husband five children, and died on July 27th of the year 1898. Of the five children who constituted the family of Benjamin T. and Sarah Nixon. Mrs. Keigwin and Mrs. Louise Small, of Philadelphia, are the only survivors.
To Mr. and Mrs. Keigwin seven. children have been born, to-wit: Anna. Harold, Raymond, Homer, Nora, Warnock and Lillian, the last named dying in infancy.
Mr. Keigwin is a Democrat in his political affiliations and a leader of his party in Jeffersonville and Clark county. He is an active and influential men- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Modern Woodmen of America fraternities and with his wife and family, except the two youngest children, belongs to the Presbyterian church. His attractive home, which he has occupied during the past fifteen years, is situated on a commanding cmi- nence overlooking the Ohio river and portions of Louisville and Jeffersonvilie.
MARTIN A. CONROY.
The gentleman whose name appears above is a wholesale and retail dealer in flour and feed at the corner of Seventh and Spring streets, Jeffersonville, and is a native of Indiana, born in the town of Sellersburg, Clark county, March 9, 1856. His parents, Patrick and Elizabeth ( Peters) Conroy, came from Queens county, Ireland, when young and married in New Albany, Indiana. They subsequently moved to Clark county and settled at Sellersburg. where the father died in middle life, the mother surviving him a number of years. dying in the city of Jeffersonville at the age of seventy-six. One son and two daughters constituted the family of this estimable couple, Martin A., of this review ; Mary, who died in childhood, and Elizabeth, a Sister of Providence. under the church name of Mary Assumption, who met with a violent dea:" some years ago in a street car accident in Indianapolis.
Martin A. Conroy was reared to habits of industry and received his edu- cational discipline in the public schools and in the parochial schools of Jeffer- sonville, this training being afterwards supplemented by a course at an educa- tional institution of higher grade by the name of St. Joseph's Hill. While still a mere youth he commenced working for himself in a brickyard, and after spending a few years in that capacity accepted a position in the Monen Raf- rond shops at New Albany, where he remained until taking service as a section hand sometime later. Severing his connection with that department of work he spent about seven years as a car builder, during which time he acquire? great proficiency as a mechanic and earned the esteem and confidence of his employers. Not caring to make railroading his life work, Mr. Conroy, at the
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expiration of the period indicated, discontinued the service and during the en- suing year was engaged in the boot and shoe trade at Jeffersonville, doing a safe and satisfactory business. In 1892 he established the line of business to which he has since devoted his attention, namely, the wholesale and retail flour and feed trade in which his advancement has been rapid and continuous, his store on the corner of Seventh and Spring streets consisting of a fine two-story brick building with a ware house fifty by seventy-two feet in dimensions, being the largest and best stocked establishment of the kind in the city. In addition to the lines of merchandise mentioned. he also carries a fine stock of salt, paint, painting supplies, hay and other commodities, and gives employment to an average of five men every working day in the year, his patronage taking a wide range and yielding him an income which long since placed him in in- dependent circumstances.
The domestic life of Mr. Conroy dates from the year 1889, when he was united in marriage with Mary O. Herron, of Jeffersonville, the ceremony being solemnized according to the rites of the Roman Catholic faith in St. Augustine church in this city. The only pledge of this union is a daughter by the name of Mary, now a young lady of intelligence and refinement and her father's assistant and bookkeeper. She was educated in the St. Augustine parochial schools and later finished a commercial course in the Spencerian Business Col- lege of Louisville.
Mr. and Mrs. Conroy were reared in the Catholic faith and have ever been true to the mother church, belonging with their daughter to the St. Augustine congregation and are active in all of its various lines of religious and benev- olent work. Mr. Conroy is one of the influential members of the Knights of Columbus and the Travelers' Protective Association, and in politics gives his allegiance to the Democratic party. He has never been a partisan in the sense of seeking office.
EDWIN WILKES HYDRON.
The manufacture of wagons, carriages and other wheeled vehicles has long been one of the important industries of Jeffersonville, and for some years the leading establishment of the kind has been the one at 133 East Chestnut street. conducted by the well known and enterprising business man whose name furnishes the caption of this article. Edwin Wilkes Hydron, a native of New Castle, Kentucky, was born November 23, 1867, and is a son of William and Mary Frances ( Schermerhorn ) Hydron. the father an Indianian by birth. the mother born about eight miles from Louisville, in Jefferson county, Kentucky. William Hydron served with an honorable record in the Civil war and later engaged in business pursuits at Jeffersonville, establishing a number of years
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ago the wagon and carriage shops, now owned and operated by his son. the latter becoming a member of the firm of Hydron & Son in 1885. He also op- erated factories in Louisville and New Albany, and during the last thirty years of his life was one of the leading wagon and carriage makers of Jeffersonville. where he built up a large and lucrative patronage and earned an enviable repu- tation as a capable and skillful mechanic. He not only achieved marked suc- cess as a business man, but stood high as a citizen. After a strenuous and useful life he was called from the scenes of his activities and achievements on the 7th day of December, 1902, since which time the business he built up and conducted with such signal results has been carried on by his son, Edwin II.
William and Mary Frances Hydron reared a family of the following chil- dren. all living and well settled in life: Edwin W .. the oldest of the number: Fred is engaged in the wholesale fruit business at Bakersfield. California : Harry, a railway engineer on the Pan Handle line : William, Jr., operates the Louisville & Jeffersonville Transfer Company, and is one of the well known citizens of the latter place; Belle married Charles Howard, a contractor of Louisville, and resides in Jeffersonville ; Hattie is the wife of Frank Same. who is connected with the Louisville & Jeffersonville Transfer Company.
Edwin Wilkes Hydron spent his childhood and youth in New Albany. received his education in the public schools and high school of that city, and at the proper age he entered his father's factory to learn the wagon and car- riage maker's trade. By diligent application and a determination to succeed. he made commendable progress and in due time became not only one of the most skilled mechanics in the establishment, but also his father's trusted assist- ant in conducting and managing the firm of Hydron & Son, which was car- ried on with signal success until the death of the father, since which time he has been sole proprietor of the establishment which is now one of the largest and best known in the city with much more than a local reputation in industrie circles.
In the management of his steadily increasing business, Mr. Hydron has displayed executive capacity of a high order : he oversees every detail of t'". establishment. doing nearly all of the finer painting himself and looking after the labors of his men. The products of his shops are of a high standard of ex- cellence, and compare favorably with the best vehicles on the market. To sup- ply the growing demand the factory is taxed to its utmost capacity, a number of mechanics being employed.
Although a Democrat in politics and interested in the success of his party. he is not an office seeker but keeps in close touch with the leading questions and issues before the people. Fraternally he holds membership with the Knights of Pythias and Knights and Ladies of Honor orders, and religious's he belongs to the Christian church, with which his wife is also identified, bo:'; being zealous and influential workers in the congregation in Jeffersonville.
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Mr. Hydron on January 16, 1893, entered the marriage relation with Louise Gruber, of Jeffersonville, whose parents were for many years respected residents of this city. The mother is still living. The father died some years ago from disease contracted while in the army, having been a soldier in the war between the North and South.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hydron three children have been born : Edwin Stewart, who was born November 23, 1894. and died January 28, 1905, the other two being daughters. Helen Louise and Maxine.
JAMES H. BEARD.
This well known business man is a native of Gallatin county. Kentucky, where his birth occurred in the year 1845. His father, John Beard, a na- tive of Butler county, Pennsylvania, was of Dutch extraction and his mother. also born and reared in the same county and state, bore the maiden name of Emily J. Morris and was of Irish descent. These parents moved to Ken- tucky a number of years ago and settled in Gallatin county, where Mr. Beard resided until his removal to Jeffersonville, in 1892, dying in the city four years later, Mrs. Beard having departed this life some time previously in Madison, Jefferson county, Indiana.
James H. Beard grew to maturity in his native county and state, received his education in the public schools and later fitted himself for a business career by taking a course in a commercial school in Cincinnati. He remained in Gallatin county until 1868, when by reason of an injury he gave up farming and. removed to Markland, Switzerland county, Indiana, and engaged in the mercantile business, which he conducted in that town for a period of fourteen years. At the expiration of that time he disposed of his stock and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he accepted a position with a wholesale grocery house, subsequently severing his connection with the firm to enter the employ of the Adams Express Company. In 1892 he resigned his position with the company and changed his residence to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he has since been engaged in various enterprises, devoting the greater part of the time to his duties as secretary of the Falls City Savings and Loan Association, one of the oldest and best known organizations of the kind in the southern part of the state, also one of the most successful, being capitalized at one mil- lion dollars and conducted by some of the most reliable business men of the city. In connection with the secretaryship he also deals extensively in real estate and insurance, in both of which lines he has built up a large and con- tinually growing patronage, his business comparing favorably with that of any other man or firm in the city similarly engaged.
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Mr. Beard was married in Gallatin county, Kentucky, in the year 1867, to Diana E. Satchvill, daughter of Joseph and Anna Satchvill, natives of that county, the union being blessed with two children, John T. and Emma D., the former an engineer in the city of Louisville, the latter the wife of Charles Banks, a soldier in the Spanish-American war, at the end of which he was given a position in the government work on the Panama Canal. Mr. Beard has been active in public affairs since becoming a citizen of Jefferson- ville and is deeply interested in whatever tends to the material advancement of the city and the social and moral good of the populace. Previous to his re- moval to Jeffersonville he served for a number of years as a Justice of the Peace at Markland and earned the reputation of an able public servant. He takes an active interest in secret benevolent work and belongs to a number of fraternal orders, including Clark Lodge, No. 40, Free and Accepted Masons. Horeb Chapter, No. 66, Royal Arch Masons, Jeffersonville Commandery. No. 22, Knights Templar, Council, No. 13, Royal and Select Masters, and Jeffersonville Chapter, No. 327, Order of Eastern Star. He is also identi- fied with Clark Assembly, No. 43, Union Fraternal League. In religion he subscribes to the plain simple teachings of the Christian church, and in politics supports the principles of the Democratic party.
PETER F. MYERS.
One of the leading lumber dealers of Jeffersonville is Peter F. Mvers, a creditable representative of one of the sturdy old families of Clark county, and .who to a marked degree inherits the sterling characteristics and amiable qualities of head and heart for which his antecedents were long distinguished. His father, Peter Myers, a native of Herkimer county, New York, came to Jeffersonville in an early day, figured prominently in the pioneer history of the city and over sixty years ago established the lumber business which has since been in the family name and which his son, Peter F. now owns and controls. About 1858 he discontinued business pursuits and from that time until his death at an advanced age, lived a life of honorable retirement, his sons, Peter F. and Charles H., being his successors, the latter dying in 1891, leaving the former sole proprietor.
Peter F. Myers was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana, June 21, 1846, and his life has been very closely identified with the city and its interests. His mother dying when he was a child, he was reared by his step-mother. Mrs. Rachael Myers, and remained with his father until the latter's death. Ile owes his present influential position in the business world as well as his earthly possessions, entirely to his persistent efforts to succeed. After be
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received an education in the public schools he underwent a practical training under the direction of his father, whose lumber business he entered at a comparatively early age and in due time became familiar with the trade in all of its details. His long connection with the lumber interest has made him one of the best informed and most experienced business men in this line in the city and his success has been continuous. As already stated he became sole proprietor in the year 1891, since which time he has gradually enlarged the scope of his operations, adding considerably to his stock and doing an ex- tensive business in Jeffersonville and other places. At the present time his stock represents a capital of about eighteen thousand dollars, but as he handles an immense amount of lumber during the year in order to supply the large and constantly growing demand on the part of builders, contractors and tradesmen. this cannot be taken as a fair estimate of the magnitude and success of his enterprise. In connection with lumber he handles all kinds of building material, including full lines of building hardware, etc., and affords steady employment to from five to seven men and several trains, supplying a large number of patrons in Jeffersonville, besides commanding a firm and growing trade in the neighboring cities of Louisville and New Albany.
Mr. Myers has been twice married, the first time to Jennie Barnaby, of Jeffersonville, who bore him three children, viz., Alida, wife of William Harding, of Louisville; Nellie, now Mrs. Joseph Milheiser, of New Albany : and Claude, who is interested with his father in the lumber business. The last named is married and the father of one child, Sidney B., four years of age, whose mother was formerly Mattie Pottinger. The subject's second marriage was solemnized with Mrs. S. M. Cain, who became the mother of Dove, who is the wife of Doctor Varble, of Jeffersonville, and Daisy, who is still a mem- ber of the home circle, both being graduates of the city high school and otherwise well educated.
In politics Mr. Myers has been a life-long Republican. He was reared in the Methodist faith and subscribes to the creed of that church, to which re- ligious body his wife also belongs and in the good work of which both man- ifest a lively and abiding interest.
REV. WILLIAM H. SHEETS, M. D.
This successful doctor of medicine and trusted spiritual guide is a na- tive of Prince William county, Virginia, and the son of George John and Margaret (House) Sheets, both parents born in Baden, Germany, the father on November Ist of the year 1786, the mother a few years after that date. George J. Sheets and Margaret House were married in Diedersheim, Baden,
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in 1815 and two years later bade farewell to the land of their birth and sailed for the United States, landing at Baltimore after a long and arduous voyage of six months, during which tinie there was much suffering among the pas- sengers by reason of the vessel being driven far from its course by the terrific storms which. prevailed almost from the time of sailing until reaching port. Among the most poignant of the many sufferers during this strenuous and protracted voyage were Mr. and Mrs. Sheets, who lost sight of their own sad plight in trying to minister to the comfort of their sick child, but despite all of their efforts to relieve the little sufferer, it gradually grew worse until at last they were obliged to see its little body consigned to the waves of the mighty deep. The cleath of this, their only child. under peculiarly distress- ing circumstances had a very depressing effect upon the minds of the fond father and mother and finally when the vessel weathered the storms and came to anchor, they landed on the shores of a new world with heavy hearts and no very bright prospects for the future.
Mr. and Mrs. Sheets settled in Prince William county, Virginia, where they secured a good home. They became the parents of nine children. eight of whom grew to maturity, namely: Margaret. George, John, Frederick. Daniel, Catherine, William H. and David P., William H. being the only sur- vivor of the once large and happy household. Having an aversion to slavery and decided objections to rearing his family under its baneful influence, George J. Sheets moved to Morgan county, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of an active and useful life, dying December 14, 1877, at the advanced age of ninety-one years, his wife preceding him to the eternal world in 1849, when fifty-six years old. The sons of this couple, with exception of William H .. were tillers of the soil and business men and the majority of them spent their lives in Morgan county. George dying in the county of Hamilton. The par- ents were reared in the Lutheran faith in their native land, but after locating in Virginia and finding no society of that denomination near their place of residence, they united with the Presbyterian church. Later, on their re- moval to Indiana, where that church was not represented, their children united with the Methodist church, in which faith the family was reared. the parents, however, remaining Presbyterians to the end of their days.
William H. Sheets was quite young when his parents disposed of their interests in Virginia and moved to Morgan county, Indiana, where the future physician and divine spent his early life on a farm. From childhood he ap- peared religiously inclined and while still a mere youth he united with the Methodist Episcopal church and began laying his plans for the future in which the ministry figured as a prominent and controlling factor. Having die- cider to devote his life to this holy calling, he was licensed in 1850 while you in his teens by Rev. Joseph Tarkington, presiding elder, and the same year was admitted to the Indiana Conference. In those days the life of such ::
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minister meant hard work and little or no remuneration, and in speaking of the character of some of his early appointments, he often said they were as good as he deserved and much better than those the fathers before him had served. At the time of his admission, fifteen composed the class of whom fourteen have exchanged the church militant for the church triumphant, he being the sole survivor of this little band of noble consecrated servants of the Most High.
Doctor Sheets was ordained deacon by Bishop Janes and eller by Bishop Scott, at Shelbyville, Indiana, and served in the active pastorate for a period of twelve years, during which time he was instrumental in strengthening the churches under his care and winning many souls to the higher life. The Conference, at his own request, granted him a supernumerary relation, fole lowing which he took up the study of medicine in the office of Dr. R. E. Curran, of Jeffersonville, later adding to his professional knowledge by a course of lectures in the Old Medical University of Louisville and two sessions in the College of Medicine and Surgery at Cincinnati, graduating with the honors of his class at the latter institution about the time of the breaking out of the Civil war. Soon after receiving his degree he was appointed surgeon in the hospital department of the army and held the position to the close of the war, discharging his duties with ability and satis- faction, meeting the approval of his officers and soldier patients and proving faithful to every trust reposed in him. Doctor Sheets left the service at the cessation of hostilities with the rank of assistant surgeon and in 1865 lo- cated at Jeffersonville, where he has since resided in the active practice of his profession, building up the meanwhile an extensive patronage. During this time he has served as examining surgeon for pensions from President Hayes' term to the second term of President Cleveland, and was also physician for six years at the Indiana State Prison, South. He has been connected more or less, since 1882, with the health department of Jeffersonville and for the last eight years has been health officer of the city, in which capacity he has rendered valuable. and effective service and added greatly to the efficiency of the department.
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