USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 10
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In 1860 he was nominated for the office of judge of probate, and was elected. After serving his term of three years he was re-elected and served another term, fulfilling the duties of this responsible office with fidelity. In the meantime he formed a partnership with a man named Dillaway, of Troy, Ohio, in the dry-goods business, the firm name being Dillaway & Davis. At the same time he also formed a partnership in the shoe business with a man named Kincaid, under the firm name of Kincaid & Davis; and also in the grain business, with a Mr. Warner, under the firm name of Warner & Davis. These lines of business were all conducted at Troy, Ohio. Then followed a partnership with a man named Durant, in the dry-goods line, and they continued two years or more together, when Judge Davis bought Mr. Durant's interest in the concern. After selling goods there alone for a time, he moved his stock to Kokomo, Indiana, in March, 1872, and brought his family here in October following, and ever since that date this city has been his home. He was in partnership with his sons, Henry C. and Walter, the firm name being S. Davis & Sons, until about 1894, when Mr. Davis retired, and his sons now have separate stores,-Henry C. continuing at the old stand, while Walter conducts a large clothing store; and both are leading merchants in the city. For some years Judge Davis was vice-president of the Howard National Bank.
In his political principles the Judge is a stanch Republican, and was a member of the old Liberty Guard. When in Milton he was mayor of that place several times, and also township trustee. He has never held office in Kokomo.
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In January, 1840, Judge Davis was united in matrimony with Miss Sarah McConnell, who was born near Hamilton, Ohio, and whose grandfather, James Mills, erected the first brick house in West Hamilton. She was the daughter of Jesse and Eliza (Mills) McConnell. Her paternal grandfather came from Ireland, and her mother's father was a representative to the state legisla- ture from Darke county, Ohio. Also, her uncle, Mark T. Mills, was for a time one of the commissioners of Darke county, and afterward sheriff of that county and a representative to the state legislature. Judge Davis has had six children, -five sons and one daughter, namely; Ianthus, born January 25, 1843; Alonzo, June 10, 1846; Omar, November 12, 1847; Laura Adelaide, July 22, 1849; Henry C., November 26, 1851, and Walter H., October 6, 1857. Of these only Henry C. and Walter are now living. The sketch of Henry C. appears elsewhere in this volume. Walter married Miss Lucy Brouse, daugh- ter of Judge Brouse, whose sketch also appears on another page. They had two children,-Agnes and one who died in infancy. Mrs. Sarah Davis died July 9, 1884, at the age of sixty-three years, two months and eighteen days. She was a sincere and intelligent member of the Congregational church. The Judge by birthright was a Quaker, but he generally attended church with his wife, being a liberal supporter of religious institutions.
In conclusion, we can say that we reflect with great pleasure upon the long and successful life of Judge Davis, which exemplifies the value of a steady aim and presence of mind. By care he has preserved his constitution to a happy old age, and can with a clear conscience enjoy a rest and ease earned by a long life of toil.
JOHN H. STEPHENS, the publisher and proprietor of the Miami County J Record, at Peru, is a gentleman whose public career is so well known throughout Miami and adjoining counties that his friends will be pleased to see some record of the main points of his life in this volume.
He was born in Pulaski county, this state, on the 6th of January, 1866, his parents being Joel and Mary (Fisher) Stephens. Being left an orphan at an early age, he was reared in the family of James B. Smith, near the city of Peru, in Washington township; and he was brought up to the hard work of the farm, where the loneliness of the situation has a tendency to develop in the soul of the thinker those poetical instincts and noble ambitions which are
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known only to himself and others like him: they cannot be described. After attending the common country school until his sixteenth year he entered the high school of Peru, where he was a student for two years, and then, paying his own way by teaching school at intervals, he attended other institutions of learning for a number of years, as the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute and an elective course of two years at De Pauw University at Greencastle. Then he taught one term of school in Illinois.
Having long desired to become the publisher of a newspaper, as a step- ping-stone in that direction he entered the service of the Logansport Reporter, as manager of out-of-town work. Soon afterward he was requested to do reportorial work on the Miami County Sentinel, and while thus engaged he wrote a history of Miami county for the columns of that paper. In 1896 he published an elaborate volume of three hundred and eighty pages, entitled the History of Miami County, a work of great merit as it involved long and careful research and is replete with valuable information.
In January, 1891, he purchased the Bunker Hill Press, and also estab- lished at that place an agricultural paper called The Stock and Farm, which became a success from the start; but he at length formed other plans, which compelled him to relinquish the publication of what promised to be-in fact had already become-a most useful and valuable periodical in the interests of agriculture. July 3, 1894, he removed the plant of the Bunker Hill Press to Peru and changed the name of the paper to the Miami County Record, and has since conducted it here, with that success that attends intellectual ability and physical energy. Editorially it is an advocate of the " free-silver " Democracy; it has a large circulation and is an able exponent of the princi- ples it advocates and a faithful "record" of the news of the day.
Mr. Stephens is a member of the orders of Masons, Odd Fellows and the Maccabees, and, with his wife, is a member of the Baptist church.
He was married September 29, 1892, to Miss Lillie J. Rife, daughter of William Rife, an early settler of Miami county, and they have two children -Lelah and Clarence.
C HARLES A. DEHAVEN, attorney at law, Kokomo, the son of James W. DeHaven, Esq., whose sketch is given elsewhere in this volume, was born August 15, 1865, near Xenia, Ohio, and was but two years old
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when his parents emigrated to this state, settling in Howard county. He- was brought up at the trade of miller, under his father's training, and his lit- erary education he obtained at the district schools and the Kokomo high school.
Enchanted by the charms of legal principles and the rights of man, he began the study of law in the office of Messrs. Cooper & Harness in Kokomo, and was admitted to the bar in 1894, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in Kokomo, where he is well known for his intelligence and probity. He is also a collecting and renting agent.
Politically he is a Republican, well versed in the principles and history of the party. He has been called upon to deliver speeches upon the rostrum in political campaigns. Socially he is a Master Mason and a member of the order of the Sons of Veterans.
C OLONEL ROBERT CROMER .- One of Indiana's native sons who. has attained distinction in military and commercial circles and who is. now an honored resident of Logansport is Colonel Robert Cromer. He was born in Indianapolis, August 10, 1842, and resided in that city until sixteen years of age. His parents were Robert and Rachel (Laselle) Cromer, the former a native of Philadelphia, and the latter of France. It is said that the Cromers are of English origin, and came to America from Cromerville, England. The mother of the Colonel died when he was a youth of nine summers, and at the age of sixteen he was left an orphan by the death of his father. He was then sent to school in the east, and was a student in Yale College at the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion. Prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he determined to join the army, and returned to. Indianapolis, where he volunteered his services, but on account of his extreme youth and slight stature he was not accepted. In the fall of 1861, however, he entered the United States secret service, and therein did effective work under Anderson, Sherman, Buell, Grant and Banks until the spring of 1865, when, upon examination, he was commissioned by Governor Morton, of Indiana, as first lieutenant of Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana Infantry, and ordered to Tullahoma and then to Nashville, where he was given charge of the arsenal and arsenal stores. Later he was detailed.
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by General Thomas to take charge of the field medical transportation of the Department of the Tennessee, as acting assistant quartermaster, and in this capacity he served until mustered out, in the autumn of 1865. His duties were often very arduous and dangerous, and with marked loyalty he dis- charged the tasks allotted to him.
Soon after the close of the war he went to Cincinnati, where he engaged in teaching in a commercial college, and while there, in connection with another teacher of the school, he issued a calculator, which sold very rapidly. They then issued a larger work and with their book, known as the Lightning Calculator, each started out to lecture. Colonel Cromer traveled as a light- ning calculator and lecturer until 1873, visiting hundreds of towns and cities, and meeting with gratifying success in his undertaking. In the year men- tioned he embarked in the live-stock commission business in Cincinnati, where he continued operations until 1886, when he removed to Louisville, Kentucky, where he carried on the same line of business until 1891. In the latter year he came to Logansport, where he has since resided. In the meantime he had studied law, and on coming to Cass county was admitted to the bar, after which he practiced law exclusively until the spring of 1896, when he established the Logansport Cement Works. In the fall of 1897 he erected his present plant at the foot of Market street, where he carries on both a wholesale and retail business, handling cement, sewerpipe, building blocks, vaults, window caps, window sills, vitrified pipe, flue pipe, flue lining, chimney tops, fire brick, fire clay and all kinds of cement, and also deals in feed and grain. His business has now assumed extensive proportions and his large trade brings to him a handsome income. Recently he has also revised and issued a second edition of his Lightning Calculator and Accountant's Assist- ant. He has unusual talent and ability as a mathematician and in this direction his reputation extends thoroughout the United States.
Since his war service Colonel Cromer's interest in military affairs has never flagged, and in 1878 he organized the First Cincinnati Veteran Regiment, of which he was chosen to take command, and thus he derived the title by which he is now uniformly known. He was instrumental in organiz- ing from this regiment the Veteran Guard Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, was chosen its first and second commander, and held that office for two terms. The Post was organized on the beneficial plan, paid four dollars per week for sick benefits and is still in existence, with Colonel
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Cromer as one of its valued members. On the death of General Grant, however, its name was changed to the U. S. Grant Post. In 1895 the Colo- nel was a delegate to the Grand Army of the Republic in national encamp- ment at St. Paul. He is also a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to all branches of the fraternity, including the militant rank, and in politics is a stanch Republican, his labors in behalf of the party having been most beneficial.
In 1872 Colonel Cromer was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Heth, of Logansport, a daughter of Harvey and Mary A. Heth, and their home has been blessed with two children-Robert Heth, sergeant of Company I, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Julia, wife of H. B. Kerlin, of Chicago, who now resides in Coshocton, Ohio. The Colonel is a man of scholarly tastes and broad general information, of genial, pleasant man ner and gentlemanly deportment, and his many admirable qualities of head and heart have gained him a large circle of warm friends, while in social, business and military circles he has an enviable popularity. Colonel Cromer is now engaged largely in real estate and building operations on his addition to the city. He is making very extensive improvements on Broadway. Market street and Dewey avenue, which last he named and dedicated in honor of Dewey, the hero of Manila.
J ACOB THEOBALD .- For a number of years Jacob Theobald has been recognized as the leading contractor and builder of Peru and is one of the most prominent and influential citizens, taking an active part in munici- pal affairs. He was born in Bavaria on the 19th of August, 1839, his par- ents being Peter and Catherine (Licht) Theobald. In 1849 the father, accompanied by his wife and four children, crossed the Atlantic to the New World, and after a residence of a few months in the city of Syracuse, New York, removed to Wisconsin, locating on a farm in the eastern part of Wash- ington county, in the fall of 1849. Peter Theobald was an industrious and energetic farmer and a highly esteemed citizen. In 1878 he and his wife spent several months in visiting at the home of their son Jacob in Peru, and when on the return trip in the fall of that year the father was taken ill. He never recovered, dying two weeks after reaching home. His wife survived
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him about five years and died in Brown county, Wisconsin. Adam Theo- bald, a brother of our subject, came to America prior to the emigration of the family, and engaged in contracting and building in Peru until his death, which resulted from a fall from a building in 1871. He left two children, a son and a daughter. The former, John Theobald, is a resident of Peru, and the latter, May, is now living in Illinois. Peter Theobald, who resides in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Jacob, of this review, are the only surviving members of their father's family. There were also two sisters, Catherine and Margaret, but both have been dead for a number of years.
Jacob Theobald remained on the home farm until his twenty-second year, but from early boyhood had manifested special aptitude in the use of tools, and now turned his attention to the carpenter's trade, in which he soon attained a high degree of proficiency. After working at the trade for three years he began contracting and building on his own account, and since 1861 has been connected with the building interests of Peru. He has long been recognized as the leading contractor of the city, and the greater number of the fine buildings on Broadway and in other streets have been erected by him under contract. He employs experienced and reliable workmen, always faithfully lives up the terms of a contract and has the confidence and there- fore the liberal patronage of the public. Many of the best buildings of Peru stand as monuments to his skill and industry, and the pleasing appearance of the city is due in no small measure to his efforts. In connection with his building interests he is also president and the chief stockholder of the Stand- ard Cabinet Manufacturing Company, extensive manufacturers of various forms of woodwork, including that for sewing-machines and show-cases. He is a man of resolute purpose and sound judgment, and carries forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he undertakes; but not only does prosperity crown his efforts, for he has also manifested such trustworthiness and upright- ness in all business transactions that he has the unlimited confidence of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
Mr. Theobald has been twice married. He first wedded Miss Mary Scheuerman, a native of Germany, who died in 1873. Three children were born of that union-Edward, Catherine and May-but the son died in infancy. The present wife of Mr. Theobald bore the maiden name of Martha C. Keyl, and is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but at the time of their marriage was living in Michigan. Four children grace this union: Ernest, Oscar,
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Clara and Martha, the last two being twins. They have a pleasant home at No. 203 West Third street, and their circle of friends is very extensive.
In politics Mr. Theobald has always been a stalwart Democrat since casting his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Firm in support of the party principles he does all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party and is one of its leading members in Peru. He is now a member of the city council and is serving his seventh consecu- tive year in that body, while on two previous occasions he was also alder- man. He is now chairman of the tax committee and for five years was chairman of the finance committee. In his official capacity he gives a zealous support to all progressive measures for the public good and his aid and influence have secured many needed and valued improve- ments in the city. Endowed by nature with a sound judgment and an accu- rate, discriminating mind, he has not feared that laborious attention to busi- ness so necessary to achieve success, and this essential quality has ever been guided by a sense of moral right which would tolerate the employment only of the means that would bear the most rigid examination, by a fairness of intention that has neither sought nor required disguise.
M RS. ANN ELIZABETH MARSHALL, a lady of remarkable talent resid- ing on section 9, Washington township, Cass county, near Logans- port, has inherited a grand physical and mental constitution which has enabled her to endure an immense amount of trouble. Her husband died some years ago, leaving her ten children and a farm of eighty acres encum- bered heavily with debt and even with adverse claims to the title; but, with the business tact and heroism which characterized her noted father, she has been able to keep the farm and bring up her numerous children in good ·style. Like her father, also, she has an excellent voice, which, had it been cultivated by masters, would have made her a prima donna.
Her children are: Ida May, who is now the wife of Frank Morton, of Oklahoma, and has one child, named William Thomas; Charles D., of Log- ansport, who has one child, Raymond; George Dexter, who has two children -June and Mildred E., and lives in Logansport; Oliver, who also is a resi- dent of Logansport; and Teressa, Mary Elizabeth, Francis A., William Oscar, Richard Henry and U. Valentine-all at their parental home.
MRS. ANN E. MARSHALL.
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David Woodling. father of Mrs. Marshall, was born February 20, 1815, in Union county, Pennsylvania; and his father, John Woodling, was a native of Germany who married Susanna Hendricks, a native of the Keystone state and also of German ancestry. David received a good school education and learned the carpenter's trade, at which he was an expert and made money. When twenty-four years of age he emigrated to Bucyrus, Ohio, where, March 22, 1838, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Jane Aurant, also a native of Union county, Pennsylvania, born January 9, 1820. Her parents, Jonathan and Susan (Whittenmyres) Aurant, were natives of the same county and also of German ancestry. Removing to Crawford county, Ohio, in 1827, they passed there the remainder of their lives.
Mr. David Woodling after his marriage removed first to Darwin, Illi- nois, and soon afterward to Terre Haute, Indiana, where Mrs. Woodling's health failed, and they concluded to emigrate to a more healthful locality. Accordingly, in 1844, they came to Cass county, settling upon a tract of wild land which is now a beautiful farm occupied by Michael Bauman. The reader will recollect that at that early day the wilderness was fearfully dense and rife with game and savage animals and even Indians. Being a good car- penter, Mr. Woodling built an excellent residence for the time, which is still standing upon the old farm. In this the family resided for a period of forty years, during which time not a death occurred in the family. The wilderness was cleared away by the vigorous hand of Mr. Woodling, whose industry and good judgment enabled him to "hew out a home " amid the sur- rounding wilderness.
Some time after his settlement here he purchased one hundred acres near the river on section 33, Washington township, three miles from Logans- port, to which point he moved in March, 1878, and where he passed the remainder of his life, dying on the 16th of April, 1882. He was a pious and prominent member of the Evangelical Lutheran church who could give a good "reason for the faith that was in him." The church for some time held their meetings in the Woodling school-house, which was named after him. Having an excellent voice and being a good singer, he generally led in the musical devotions of the congregation and also taught singing-school. He was a gentleman of fine appearance, dressed well, and among strangers was sometimes taken for a clergyman. Being liberal, he also aided all the churches in his community, besides being the poor man's friend generally. 7
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His home was the headquarters for social gatherings and religious meetings, where everybody was welcome; and every one knew that at his house "the latchstring always hung on the outside of the door." Occasionally there would be as many as thirty at dinner at his house at one time; but the supply furnished by that liberal man seemed never to be exhausted. Politically he was a strong Republican.
His wife survived until May 19, 1894, then passing away to the invisible world, a sincere and worthy member of the Lutheran church.
The children of David and Margaret Woodling may be enumerated as follows: Thomas Jefferson, born June 28, 1839, now resides in St. Louis, Missouri; James Harvey, born November 14, 1841, lives in Tipton township, Cass county; Reason L., born November 12, 1843, resides in Washington township; Martha J., born February 27, 1846, died March 13, following; William F., born July 10, 1847, is now a resident of Washing- ton township; Ann Elizabeth, the subject proper of this sketch, born Novem- ber 19, 1848; Maria S., born August 29, 1850, lives in Iowa; John I., born August 19, 1852, died April 7, 1854; Henry D., born September 20, 1854, is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri; Sarah E., born August 27, 1856, is at the asylum; Samuel P., born May 25, 1858, occupies the old farm near the river; Mary Margaret, born June 2, 1861, is deceased; George Jonathan, born March 11, 1863, is a carpenter following his trade in Cass county; and Charles Ulysses, born May 21, 1867, is a resident of Jackson township, Cass county.
H ON. CORYDON RICHMOND, M. D., a retired physician of Kokomo, Indiana, is rounding out a long and useful life and, although now in his old age deprived of sight, he can turn memory's pages, decade after decade, for nearly a century, and note the development of state and nation, having just reason to take pride in the fact that he has done his part in paving the way to the advantages and privileges enjoyed by the present generation.
Corydon Richmond was born in Onondaga, Onondaga county, New York, November 22, 1808, son of John Lambert Richmond and Loraine (Patchin) Richmond, and the only survivor of their family of five sons and five daugh- ters. John Lambert Richmond was a native of Massachusetts. In early
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life he was a laborer, and afterward went to preaching, as a Baptist minister. In the meantime he studied medicine, and in 1817 he came west to Ohio and located in Hamilton county, ten miles east of Cincinnati, where he began the practice of his profession. He continued his residence in Hamilton county until 1832, but several years prior to that date made his home in Cincinnati. He graduated in the Ohio Medical College in 1822. From Cincinnati he moved to Indianapolis and some years later took up his abode in Covington, Indiana, where he spent his last days and died, being about seventy-one at the time of his death. His remains are buried at LaFayette, Indiana. His wife was a native of New York state. Her death occurred a year prior to his, when she had attained the age of sixty-eight years. Both were members of the Baptist church throughout their lives. During the war of 1812 he belonged to the organization known as the "Minute Men."
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