USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 11
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Information regarding the grandparents of our venerable subject is as follows: Nathaniel Richmond, his grandfather, was a native of Massachu- setts and a descendant of English ancestors. He was a soldier in a Massa- chusetts regiment during the Revolutionary war, by occupation was a farmer, and was the father of a large family. In 1817, the year his son John L. set- tled in Hamilton county, Ohio, he came to Indiana and located in Lawrence- burg. Some years later he removed to Pendleton, Madison county, Indiana, where he died. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Walter Patchin, and he, too, was of English descent and by occupation a farmer. He died in New York state.
Dr. Richmond passed the first nine years of his life in his native state. From 1817 to 1832 his home was in Ohio. He began the study of medicine there and in Cincinnati practiced for some time with his father. In 1832 he came to Indiana and located at Pendleton, Madison county. He practiced there until 1836 and from that time until 1841 in Indianapolis. Then returning to Pendleton, he resumed practice there and continued at that place four years, and since 1845 he has been a resident of Kokomo. At the time of his settlement here he had the red man for his neighbor, for it was not until 1848 that the Miami Indians were removed from this locality. Here he was engaged in professional duties for many years until, on account of rheumatism, he was compelled to retire from practice. He did not, however, entirely quit practice until after the close of the Civil war.
The Doctor has been thrice married, and as many times death has bereft
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him of a loving companion. In 1830 he married Miss Nancy Page Stockton, daughter of Joseph Stockton, and they had one child, that died in infancy. Mrs. Richmond died in 1833. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Three years later Dr. Richmond married Miss Frances Hawkins, of Indianapolis, daughter of Jameson and Ruth (Threlkeld) Hawkins. The fruits of their union were four children, namely: Louisa W., who became the wife of Josiah M. Leeds, died in Kansas in March, 1895; Lucinda, who died at the age of four years; Sarah Jane, who became the wife of Joseph C. Anderson, and has three children, Fannie L. Morgan, Maud A. Johnson and Edgar R. Anderson: and Margaret Ann, who lived only four years. The mother of these four daughters died in 1871, at the age of sixty-five years. She was a Baptist. On the 9th of September, 1873, the Doctor wedded, for his third wife, Mrs. Lydia E. Saxton, widow of Henry M. Saxton and daughter of Abel Fowler, of Monroe county, New York. She departed this life January 26, 1898, on her eighty-third birthday. She was a member of the New Jerusalem church.
Fraternally the Doctor is a Freemason, and politically he has always given his support to the party he believed was acting in the best interests of the people. His first vote was cast with the Whigs, some years later he allied him- self with the Republicans, and, always a prohibitionist in sentiment, he has of late years given his support to the Prohibition party. While he never sought official position, it was time after time thrust upon him, and wherever duty called he obeyed. He served with credit to himself and his constituents, in numerous places of trust and responsibility when he was in his prime, and throughout his whole life he has maintained a deep interest in all that has tended toward the development of his town, county, state and nation. In the fall of 1847 he was elected a representative to the state legislature from Cass and Howard counties. For three or four years he was school examiner for Howard county. Several years he was county surveyor. In 1868 he was elected mayor of the city of Kokomo, and served one term. At its expiration he was appointed by the county commissioners to fill a vacancy in the office of justice of the peace, and as such served two years, afterward being elected for a term of four years.
During the Civil war Dr. Richmond notified a friend at Indianapolis that he was ready at any time to render assistance as surgeon if his country needed him, and immediately after the battle of Stone river he was called to Mili-
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tary Hospital No. 3, at Nashville, to assist as surgeon. Also in 1865, after the battle of Nashville, he was called back there and assisted in establishing a hospital for colored troops, took charge of this hospital and remained there until his services were no longer needed. For some years past the Doctor's eyesight has been failing, and since January, 1893, he has been totally blind.
Speaking of his early life in Howard county, Dr. Richmond states that when he settled here there was not a road in the county, and his professional duties were attended with no little difficulty. Frequently he had trouble in finding his way through the almost pathless woods to homes of the pioneer settlers among whom he practiced. He had been here a number of years before he ever saw a buggy driven through this part of the country. Fre- quently he walked as far as twenty miles to see a patient. When he went to Indianapolis to the legislature he made the trip in a lumber wagon, taking his family with him. All honor to the sterling pioneer!
R ODNEY STRAIN. - A popular business man, a faithful citizen and a gentleman whom to know is to respect and honor, Rodney Strain has resided in Logansport since March, 1866. He was born in London, Madison county, Ohio, on the 14th of February, 1841, and is a son of William A. and Mary (McMillen) Strain. The father is a physician and was for many years successfully engaged in practice in London, Ohio, where he is widely known for his skill and ability. He is now living in Greenfield, Ohio, and has passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey. His wife passed away in 1880, at the age of fifty-two years. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, four of whom are yet living: Rodney; John C. and Anna, who reside in Greenfield, Ohio; and William A., of Hillsboro, Ohio.
In the city of his nativity Rodney Strain remained until 1860, and then removed to Springfield, Ohio. He had acquired a fair English educa- tion in his youth, and had clerked in a drug store in London. After his removal to Springfield he was employed in a similar capacity, and thus with broad experience in that line he came to Logansport in March, 1866, open- ing a drug store, which he conducted with marked success until December, 1884. He made many friends and built up a very good business. In February, 1885, he bought a half-interest in the undertaking business at 613
*
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Broadway, and since that has engaged with B. A. Kroeger in the undertaking business, under the firm name of Kroeger & Strain. He had no experience in that direction at the time, but his knowledge of chemicals proved of value to him, and he had soon mastered the new enterprise. They have met with good success in this work and have a splendidly equipped under- taking establishment, doing embalming and every class of work in the best style.
In 1867 Mr. Strain was united in marriage to Miss Susan McMillen, of Logansport, and to them were born two children, but the older, Anna, is now deceased. Geneva, the younger, is still with her parents.
Mr. Strain manifested his loyalty to his country during the Civil war by enlisting in the Union army, in April, 1864, as a member of Company E, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Infantry, with which he served for nearly six months. In politics he has always been a stalwart adherent to the principles of the Republican party, and is deeply interested in its growth and success. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend, and for nearly twelve years he served on the school board of Logansport, as one of its most efficient and capable members. His support and co-operation are given to every movement calculated to advance the moral and intellectual well-being of the community and Logansport numbers him among her most valued citizens. In his fraternal relations he is a Mason, belonging to Orient Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and he is also a comrade of Logansport Post, No. 14, G. A. R. He is an active member of the First Presbyterian church, is a member of the session and was a trustee for several years, having ever taken a commendable interest in church work. He is at this time rendering efficient service in an endeavor to compile a history of the church, and, though many valuable data have been lost, he has succeeded in finding considerable that will furnish a full and authentic history of the organization. He is a genial, kindly Christian gentleman; and what higher praise can be bestowed ?
I OSEPH N. TILLETT, an attorney and counselor at law and the present
J prosecuting attorney for the Miami circuit court, is a native of Peru township, born November 27, 1865. His father, William Tillett, is a Miami county pioneer, having settled in Peru township in 1834, where he still lives.
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He has seven children, never having lost any, as is almost universally the case in families.
The youngest of these children, the subject of this sketch, attended the district school in earlier boyhood and then became a student of the Peru high school, and two years later entered Wabash College, graduating in the class of 1888. In the autumn of the same year he entered the law depart- ment of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he graduated in 1890. In July following he formed a partnership with Nott N. Antrim, a prominent member of the bar of Miami county, and the law firm of Antrim, & Tillett continued for five years. Mr. Tillett was elected prosecuting attorney of Miami county in November, 1894. Though still a young man he is recognized as an able lawyer and a safe counselor. His administra- tion of the office of prosecuting attorney has been such as to commend him to the highest consideration as an able, upright and conscientious lawyer. In his political relations he is a Democrat, and is at present chairman of the Democratic central committee of Miami county.
In matrimony he was united with Miss Elizabeth Baldwin, daughter of Rev. Robert R. Baldwin, a well-known clergyman of the Methodist Episco- pal church. Mrs. Tillett is a native of Daviess county, Indiana. Their daughter, Lois Elizabeth, was born December 24, 1895.
H ENRY C. DAVIS, proprietor of the " Beehive " store, devoted to the sale of dry goods, carpets, cloaks and notions, in Kokomo, is a son of Judge Samuel Davis, of whom we give an account on other pages, and was born in West Milton, Miami county, Ohio, November 26, 1851, the fifth in the family. He was eight years of age when his parents moved to Tippe- canoe City, that state, where the family resided for eighteen months. In the spring of 1860 they moved to Troy, same state, where the subject of this sketch grew to manhood, attending the elementary and high schools there, and the commercial school at Dayton, Ohio. At the age of sixteen years he began clerking in his father's store, and has remained with him ever since. From the time he came to Kokomo until 1894 he was associated with his brother, Walter H., when their father retired and the brother entered the clothing trade at another place in the city. Since 1894, therefore, Mr. Henry
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C. Davis has been conducting the business at the old stand alone. He car- ries an immense stock, his trade is well established and his reputation is beyond suspicion. He employs about twenty persons in the store, a fine building on the north side of the court-house square. He is also a director in the Howard National Bank, in which he is one of the largest stockholders.
Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of Howard Lodge, No. 93, A. F. & A. M .; Kokomo Chapter, No. 104, R. A. M .; of Kokomo Coun- cil, and of Kokomo Commandery, No. 36, K. T .; also of Good Intent Lodge, No. 29, Knights of Pythias; was one of the charter members of Kokomo Divi- sion, No. 6, Knights of Pythias, Uniformed Rank; and from 1883 to 1888 was captain of the division, during which time the division took seven prizes, among them the international prize at Toronto in 1886.
On the 1st of October, 1872, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary P. McClung, daughter of David and Elizabeth T. (Harker) McClung, and they have three children, -Emma Louise, Henry C., Jr .. and George. Henry C. is employed in the store of his father. Emma Louise is the wife of Harry Bruner, vice-president and manager of the Rockford Bit Company. Mrs. Bruner is a fine musician. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the First Congregational church, of which he has been a trustee for twenty years.
The family prestige, the business training and the high moral character ever sustained by Mr. Davis are well known to the citizens of Kokomo and throughout Howard county.
C OL. THOMAS H. BRINGHURST .- One of the most conspicuous figures in the history of Logansport is Thomas Hall Bringhurst, who for more than a half century has been a resident of the city, during which time he has been a leading spirit in many of its business and public enterprises. Through two wars he loyally maintained the honor of his country, and at all times and in all places he has been known for his fidelity of purpose, his lofty principles and his strict adherence to the ethics which govern all human existence. Such qualities have won him an exalted place in the esteem of his fellow-men, and now, in the years of his retirement from active life, he is honored as one whose career is undarkened by any esoteric phases, it having ever been an open scroll capable of bearing the closest scrutiny.
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Colonel Bringhurst is a native of Philadelphia, born August 20, 1819, and is of American and Irish extraction. His parents were Robert R. and Mary (Wood) Bringhurst. The father was a mechanic and died at the advanced age of eighty years. The Colonel was reared under the par- ental roof, and though he is now the possessor of a handsome competence, he began life for himself with a cash capital of one dollar, most of which he spent for postage. He was apprenticed for a term of five years, to learn the trade of cabinet-making, that period being considered necessary for the acquisition of a mechanical art. In 1840 he emigrated to Alabama, but the following year returned to the north, locating in Dayton, Ohio, where he worked at his trade for four years. He then came to Logansport, in 1845, and erected a sawmill at the mouth of the Eel river, where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber for the eastern markets, making a specialty of walnut veneer.
His business career, however, was interrupted by military service, for in May, 1846, he enlisted in the First Regiment of Indiana Volunteers for service under General Taylor in the Mexican war. He remained at the front for a year and then returned to Logansport, resuming the operation of his sawmill, which he successfully conducted until 1849, when he purchased the office and equipments of the Logansport Telegraph, at the solicitation of the Whigs, who wished a party organ in this locality. The purchase price was three hundred and fifty dollars, and he had a cash capital of thirty dol- lars, which he had received from the government as extra pay as a soldier. With that plant he established the Logansport Journal, which he conducted as editor and proprietor until 1870, making it one of the leading newspapers in this part of the state. He built up a large circulation and the enterprise proved a profitable one.
Again, however, he laid aside business cares and donned the blue as a defender of his country. In 1861 he assisted in raising and enlisting the Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry, of which he was commissioned major on the 30th of September, 1861. On the 26th of May, 1862, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and on the 6th of August following was made colonel, with which rank he served until the close of the war. His regiment figured prominently in the Mississippi river campaign, being with Grant until Vicks- burg was reached, and later did active and meritorious service in Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana, being with General Banks on
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the Louisiana and Texas expeditions, participated in the investment of Vicks- burg and in the Red river campaign. When the war was ended and the country no longer needed his services Colonel Bringhurst returned to the north, with a brilliant military record, for he had led his men in many a gal- lant charge and by his own bravery had inspired them to deeds of valor.
On his return the Colonel resumed the publication of the Journal, which he continued until December, 1869, when he was appointed special agent in the post-office department, occupying that position until 1876, when he resigned. The following year he became a partner in the firm of Charles Kahlo & Company, doing an extensive business, under the firm name of the Logansport Manufacturing Company, in the manufacture of spokes and other wood materials for wagons and carriages. For some years he was vice-pres- ident of the company, and under able management the enterprise became one of the leading industrial concerns in this section of the state. Through the legitimate channels of trade, embracing connection with various interests, Colonel Bringhurst accumulated a comfortable property, which now enables him to live retired from further arduous cares.
Colonel Bringhurst has been twice married. He first wedded Mary Spencer and after her death Elizabeth Ross. Socially he was for many years a member of the Masonic fraternity, but is not connected with it now. He belongs to both the subordinate lodge and encampment of the Odd Fellows society and has served as past grand. In politics he was originally a Whig and when the Republican party was formed, to prevent the further extension of slavery, he joined its ranks and has since been one of its stalwart advo- cates. He is a man of broad mind, of firm convictions and of honorable purpose, and his bravery and loyalty in the time of his country's peril plainly indicate the character of the man, for Colonel Bringhurst is one whom to know is to honor and respect.
JOSEPH LUTZ .- The scenes and experiences of pioneer life in Indiana J were familiar to this gentleman, who is now a prominent farmer of Cass county, living in Jackson township. He came to the state when Indians still had their haunts in the forests of northern Indiana, and when the land was wild and unimproved, giving little indication of the rapid changes which
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were soon to work a wonderful transformation. Mr. Lutz was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of January, 1827, and spent his early boy- hood days on a farm there. In 1837 his parents removed to the western reserve of Ohio, locating in Trumbull county, where our subject continued his residence until 1846, when he removed to Wabash county, Indiana, mak- ing the journey by way of the canal. The red men still lived in the neigh- borhood and the land had not yet been brought under cultivation, save in isolated places where a few brave pioneers had pushed beyond the settle- ments of the districts further east. He leased land in Wabash county and engaged in farming there until 1856, when he came to Cass county, locating in Jackson township. Here he also leased land until he came into posses- sion of forty acres, which he secured in payment of his labor in clearing another forty-acre tract for John T. Howard. This was in 1858, and in the spring of 1859 he removed to his new farm upon which he has since made his home. It was then a wild and unimproved tract, on which not a furrow had been turned. There were no roads in this section of the county and Mr. Lutz cut one through to Lincoln and Bunker Hill, thus gaining some con- nection with the outside world. He erected a log cabin of one room and with characteristic energy began the development of his land, which in course of time was made to yield to to him abundant harvests.
In 1850 Mr. Lutz was united in marriage to Miss Almina Misner, and found in her a faithful companion and helpmeet on the journey of life. She not only cared for their little home, but in the early days would lead the oxen while her husband made the furrows with a single shovel plow. Thus by their united efforts they overcame the difficulties and obstacles in the path to success and won a well deserved prosperity. Mr. Lutz is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of rich land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation. He has two thousand rods of ditches on the place, and many excellent improvements indicate to the passer-by his thrift and enterprise. He carries on general farming and stock-raising, and his careful management and untiring labors have brought to him success.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lutz were born eleven children, ten of whom are living: Lorinda, Mary E., Elizabeth A., Frank J., Samuel M., Stephen A., Emma, Vallay L., William C. and Minnie. The family attend the United Brethren church, of which Mr. Lutz is a member. In his political associa- tions he is a Democrat, but has taken no active part in politics, save in cast-
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ing an intelligent vote for the men and the measures of his party, as he prefers to devote his time and attention to his farming interests. Forty-two years have passed since he came to Cass county, and his life throughout this long period has ever been such as to gain and retain the high regard of all whom he has met.
S YLVESTER C. BOWYER .- The farm which is still his home was the birthplace of Sylvester Clayton Bowyer, whose natal day was February 16, 1849. Throughout his entire life he has resided at what is known as Lewisburg, Cass county, and his family history is one of close connection with the growth and development of this part of the state. His father, Lewis Bowyer, was a native of Virginia and a farmer by occupation. In 1832 he journeyed by team to the west and purchased canal land in Cass county, -a wild tract entirely destitute of improvement. He erected a rude cabin for temporary sheiter, and during the first year placed about six acres of land near the river under cultivation. That was the nucleus of a finely developed and richly improved farm. He cleared his land, planted crops and in those early days passed through the usual experiences and hardships incident to the development of a farm in a wild region. Economy, industry, personal sacrifice and strong determination all characterized his career through that period in which he was reclaiming the wilderness, but at length his indefati- gable labors were crowned with success, as his abundant harvests brought him good financial returns.
Lewis Bowyer was very progressive, and in addition to his farming operations laid out the town of Lewisburg, which was named in his honor, and which for some years was a trading point of considerable importance. A number of untenanted houses still stand in mute evidence of the busy life of that once thriving village. Mr. Bowyer was a very useful and influential citizen in the community, was regarded as a man of excellent judgment, and his advice and counsel were often sought by his neighbors and friends. He was born June 5, 1801, and died in 1855, his death being the occasion of deep regret throughout the community. He was married April 7, 1825, in Greenbrier county, Virginia, to Miss Malinda Wilson, who was born May 9, 1806, and died in 1883. They were the parents of twelve children: Lewis Franklin, who died December 5, 1825; Mary Jane, who was born April 22,
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1827, and died October 11, 1834; Virginia C., who was born December 18, 1828, and is living in Walton, Indiana; Eliza Ann, who was born January 8, 1831, and died August 3, 1854; Andrew W., who was born November 24, 1832, and died February 15, 1833; Allen W., who was born July 31, 1834, in Tipton township, Cass county; Charles G., who was born in Cass county, August 3, 1839; John M., born April 24, 1841; Napoleon, who was born August 7, 1843, and is now deceased; America Ann, who was born November 3, 1846, and died February 1, 1850; Sylvester C., our subject; and Utah M., who was born December 28, 1851, and who also has passed away.
Sylvester C. Bowyer, the eleventh child of the family, was born and reared on the farm which is now his home, and it is therefore endeared to him by the associations of childhood as well as by the memories of later years. He attended the district schools through the winter season in his early youth, but his educational privileges were somewhat limited, as the family was large and his labors were needed upon the home farm. Business experience and observation, however, have brought him a good practical education, and he is to-day a well-informed man on matters of general interest. His labors in the active affairs of life have been crowned with a fair degree of success. In addition to the old home farm he owns one hundred acres of valuable land lying in Tipton township, across the river, and his well. cultivated fields yield to him a golden tribute in return for the care and labor he bestows upon them.
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