USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 19
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 19
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 19
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
S. O. Duncan attended school near his home until he was seventeen. At that age he entered Franklin College, where he graduated in 1893, with the degree of A. B. Choosing the medical profession, he pursued his studies in Rush Medical College, completed the course in due time and received his diploma in 1896. Immediately after his graduation, he entered upon the practice of his profession in Edinburg, Indiana, and remained there until September, 1897, when he came to Russiaville. Here he has since been engaged in the drug business and in the practice of medicine. He is an up- to-date young physician, well posted on all that pertains to his profession, and in touch with the medical brotherhood, having membership in the John- son and Howard Counties Medical Society and also the Indiana State Med- ical Society. Other fraternal organizations with which he is identified are the Knights of Pythias and the Red Men.
Dr. Duncan is a member of the Baptist church. His father belongs to New-Light or Christian church, in which he is a trustee and deacon.
M ARCELLUS RACOBS .- The present city marshal of Tipton, Mr. Mar- cellus Racobs, was born in Fayette county. Ohio, near Washington Court House, August 13, 1845, a son of Joseph and Ruth (Vantrees Racobs, natives of the Buckeye state. They had five sons and five daughters, of whom five are now living, namely: Marcellus, whose name heads this
182
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
sketch; Jane, the wife of Edward Coffman, of Cloverdale, Indiana; Anna, now Mrs. Coon, residing in the state of Iowa; Ella, wife of Plimpton Reed, of Greenfield, this state; and Frank Racobs, also of Greenfield. The father, a farmer by vocation, emigrated to Indiana in 1868, locating in Cicero town- ship, Tipton county, near Tipton, where he rented a farm and lived about three years; he then moved to Montgomery county, Kansas, and engaged in agricultural pursuits there till about 1877, when he returned to this state, locating in Putnam county and again engaging in farming. In 1882 he had the misfortune to lose his mind, and Marcellus went and brought him to his own home and has cared for him ever since. His wife lives at Cloverdale, Putnam county; she is a member of the Christian church.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Frederick Racobs, was a native of Virginia, who moved to Ohio in an early day and located in Fayette county. He died in middle life, while on his way to Indiana, near Eaton, Ohio, and his family then returned to Fayette county, that state. He had six children. Mr. Racob's mother's father, Mr. Vantrees, was also a native of Virginia and of German descent, became a merchant in Kentucky and resided also for a time in Ohio, and at length died in Kentucky. He was married three times and had altogether twenty-seven children.
Mr. Marcellus Racobs, our subject, was reared in Fayette county, Ohio, principally in the village, attending the common schools and received a fair education. During the summer seasons he clerked in a grocery until sixteen years of age, when he entered the army for the Union, enlisting as a member of Company C, Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for one year as a private; he then re-enlisted, in the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, in Company A, and served in that body from June 23, 1863, to August 23, 1865, participating in the battles of Cross Keys, Virginia, Harper's Ferry, in 1862, and taken prisoner there, but immediately paroled; was afterward in the battles of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Cleveland, same state; Strawberry Plains; the battle of Mouse creek and a great many skirmishes.
After the war he returned home and followed agricultural pursuits in Fayette county, Ohio, from 1865 to 1867, and in March of the latter year came to Tipton county, this state, where he engaged in farming until 1872, when he moved to Kansas and also followed farming in Montgomery county there for two years. Returning to Tipton, he has ever since been a resident of Cicero township, engaged in agriculture until 1880, when he moved into
1
183
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
town and ran an engine for six years. He was then elected city marshal and by re-election served three terms altogether, always a Democratic non- inee; was twice defeated, but in 1898 was elected for the fourth term, and he is now acceptably serving in that capacity. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, the Independent Order of Foresters, and of James Price Post, No. 203, Grand Army of the Republic. He and Mrs. Racobs are members of the Christian (Disciples') church, which they joined in 1869. He built his own residence on South Third street in 1887, where he has since lived. He has been in the county now about thirty years. He is a kind- hearted, good man and highly regarded in the community. In the language of Washington Irving, he has "that inexhaustible good nature which is itself the most precious gift of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather." He thinks a great deal of his friends, and this is indeed the best thing that can be said of any man. Physically, also, he is a fine specimen, being six feet and three inches tall and well proportioned.
August 23, 1868, is the date of his union in matrimony with Miss Jennie A. Recobs (almost the same name as his own), a daughter of James and Lydia (Burnett) Recobs. By that union there were twelve children, -six sons and six daughters, namely: James Franklin, who died in infancy; the next two were girls, who died also in infancy; William Henry, who died at the age of twelve years; Catharine, who died at the age of eighteen years; Carra, Henry, Robert, May, Dayton, Ella and Walter. Seven of the chil- dren are still at their parental home.
W H. EIKENBERRY, one of the prominent young business men of Russiaville, Howard county, Indiana, has for the past ten years been at the head of a carriage and buggy establishment at this place. As one of the leading spirits in the business circles of this prosperous little town, his career as a business man and his personal history are of interest in this connection, and, briefly, a résumé of his life is as follows:
W. H. Eikenberry is a native "Hoosier," born in Monroe township, Howard county, Indiana, February 5, 1866. He is of German origin, the Eikenberrys having been among the early settlers of the " Old Dominion," and several generations of the family having lived and died in this country.
184
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
Henry Eikenberry, his grandfather, was born in Virginia. In the year 1810 he moved to Ohio and two years later, in 1812, came over into Indiana and pitched his tent in Union county. It was in Union county, at College Cor- ner, that his son John, the father of our subject, was born. John Eiken- berry moved to Howard county some thirty-five years ago and has resided here ever since, engaged in farming until recently. For the past four years his home has been in Russiaville and he is now interested with his son in the buggy business. His life has been such that it has earned him a place among the representative citizens of his locality. He is a member of the New-light Christian church and a deacon in the same, and enjoys the high esteem of all who know him. His wife was before her marriage Miss Delilah Clark and is a daughter of William Clark, of Union county, Indiana. Of the eight children of this worthy conple, the following named are now living: Sarah Ann, wife of B. F. Bock; Lydia, wife of Ephraim Reinheart, of River Forest, Indiana; Jennie, wife of Ad. Gordon, residing near Russiaville; W. H., whose name forms the heading of this sketch; Carl C., of Russiaville; and Miss Laura, at home.
W. H. Eikenberry was reared on his father's farm in Monroe township, Howard county, and up to the time he was nineteen spent his summers in farm work and his winters in attending school. On leaving the farm, he engaged in the carriage and buggy business as a traveling salesman, and for two years was on the road. In 1888 he established his present business in Russiaville. He deals in carriages and buggies and also in bicycles, and in connection with this business has a sales barn and buys and sells horses. In the buggy trade, however, his chief interest is centered, and he sells from three to four buggies a day the year round, his trade covering a large terri- tory as he has men on the road all the time. In business terms he is what is called a hustler. He started out, as stated, as a traveling man, saved his money and made good investments, and whatever he has undertaken has prospered.
In political affairs, and especially those of a local nature, Mr. Eikenberry takes a lively interest, but has never sought nor would he accept office. Fra- ternally, he is a Knight of Pythias.
March 1, 1891, he married Miss Katie Gordon, daughter of W. F. Gor- don, of this place. But their happy married life was of short duration, ending with her death fifteen months after the wedding day.
185
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
B ENJAMIN B. RICHARDS .- This gentleman has spent his entire life in the Hoosier state and is now residing in Galveston, Cass county, where he is successfully engaged in the practice of law. He was born in Ripley county, Indiana, on the 13th of September, 1847, a son of Benjamin and Eliza (Marquis) Richards. When five years of age he accompanied his par- ents on their removal to Decatur county, where he was reared to manhood on a farm, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He continued to assist in the cultivation of the fields until 1865, when he entered Hartsville University in Bartholomew county, Indiana, pursuing a three-years collegiate course in that institution. In the autumn of 1867 he went to Howard county, Indiana, where he suc- cessfully engaged in teaching in the public schools for five years. He then went to New London, where he was engaged in the harness business for two years, after which he engaged in the manufacture of harness in Russiaville for eight years.
On the expiration of that period Mr. Richards began preparation for a professional career, having determined to engage in the practice of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1881, and during the earlier years of his profes- sional career, in addition to his practice, he edited the Russiaville Observer for three years. In 1887 he removed to Kokomo, and continued a member of the bar of that place until the autumn of 1888, when he came to Galves- ton. Here he has built up a good business, and in addition to general law practice he makes a specialty of the settlement of estates. He is well read in the law, forceful and earnest in the presentation of his case before judge or jury, and has been connected with some very important litigation in the courts of Cass county.
. On the 10th of May, 1870, Mr. Richards was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Gossett, and they have two children: Olie, wife of W. A. King, of Galveston; and John O., a resident of North Dakota.
In his political views Mr. Richards is a Republican and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, thus being able to cast an intelligent ballot for the men and measures of his party. He served as justice of the peace for one term in Russiaville, but has never been an office-seeker. Socially he is connected with Amity Lodge, K. of P., and the Odd Fellows society of Galveston, and in religious belief is a Methodist. He gives his support to all measures and movements for the public good, and in his town
186
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
is a leader in thought and action. His many admirable qualities have gained him a large circle of friends, and Galveston numbers him among her promi- nent and influential citizens.
H ON. JAMES MCCLELLAN PURVIS. - The profession of law is highly honored by the character of Mr. Purvis, of the firm of Fippen & Purvis, attorneys at Tipton. This gentleman has always been a resident of this county and is therefore well known, as are also the two greatly esteemed families which by consanguinity he represents.
He was born seven miles northwest of Tipton, in Tipton county, in Lib- erty township, July 4, 1863, a son of Andrew J. and Margaret J. (Bess) Purvis. His father was a native of Kentucky and his mother of Indiana. Of their eleven children-seven sons and four daughters-four are now living, - John W., James McC., Orville Sylvester and Zena Annetta, unmarried. The father was a farmer, who came to Indiana in an early day and settled first in Decatur county, where he lived for a few years, and in 1852 came to Tip- ton county, where he was married, and engaged in farming, which he fol- lowed in Liberty, Prairie, Jefferson and Cicero townships. His wife died in 1887, at the age of about fifty-two years, and he then came to Tipton to make his home with his son James, and here he died in 1890, at the age of sixty-three years. When a young man he enlisted for the Mexican war, but that contest was closed before he was called into action. During the last war a lot fell upon him for service in the army, but the physician declared him exempt. He and his wife were members of the Christian or " New- Light " church, but after her death he united with the " Disciples " branch.
The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Calvin Purvis, was an old settler of Kentucky and all his life was a great hunter and trapper, but his general occupation was that of agriculture. He lived to be over one hundred years of age, never having a day's sickness; he died simply of "old age." He was married twice and had a large number of children, -eleven by his first wife and several by his second.
Harrison Bess, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Purvis, was one of the pioneers of Indiana who came from Johnson county to Tipton county early in the '40s, was a farmer in Liberty and Prairie townships, had a large fam- ily and died upwards of sixty years of age.
187
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
Mr. James McC. Purvis, whose name heads this sketch, was brought up on his father's farm in Tipton county, attended the district schools and the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana, and then taught school about eight terms, and during that time was reading law, so far advancing that in 1887 he was admitted to the bar. In 1892 he formed a partnership with J. M. Fippen, under the firm name of Fippen & Purvis, and they have now practiced together for six years. They are well known for their painstaking care and responsibility in the serious matters of the law, while Mr. Purvis is equally well and favorably known for his jolly good nature. His intellect is well rounded by nature, which fact leads him to keep it well rounded by his self- training. He is a Democrat in his political principles, and fraternally a member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1896 he was elected a member of the state legislature, and his term therein has not yet expired. In 1890 he was a candidate for prosecuting attorney for the thirty-sixth judicial district, and was defeated by only seventy-one votes in a district that polled about eleven hundred Republican votes. He has always taken an active part in politics and has spoken from the rostrum a number of times in the interest of his party. He has also been a delegate to numerous conventions and on various occa- sions has served on committees.
On the 14th day of April, 1897, Mr. Purvis was united in matrimony with Miss Adonis B. Clarke, a daughter of William and Ophelia P. (Jesse) Clarke; she is a member of the Episcopal church. Their home is on South Independence street, where he purchased a lot in the spring of 1898.
T THOMAS FLINN .- A native of Ireland, born on the 6th of January, 1844, Thomas Flinn came with his mother to America in 1848. His father died in the old country. They located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where our subject remained until fifteen years of age. He then went to Rush county, Indiana, where he began work as a farm hand by the month. He spent the summer there and then returned to Cincinnati, where he attended school through the winter season, again resuming farm work in the following sum- mer. He continued to make his home in Ohio until the spring of 1865, when he again came to Indiana, locating in Carroll county, where he rented land and engaged in farming until 1875. In that year he removed to his
188
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
present farm in Deer Creek township, Cass county, having purchased the property in 1873. For almost a quarter of a century he has made his home thereon, and has wrought great changes in the appearance of the place. He owns eighty acres on section 13, and carries on general farming and stock- raising. The buildings upon his place are kept in good repair, fences divide the farm into fields of convenient size and all the modern accessories and conveniences are there found. The place is neat and thrifty in appearance, and his labors are rewarded with good harvests.
On the 2d of February, 1865, Mr. Flinn was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Brossius, and to them have been born five children: William, who resides on the farm with his father, married Nora Ray and they have three children, Willard R., Melnott and Pauline; Isabella is at home; Margaret is the wife of T. H. Beck, of Clinton county, Indiana; Janette is a student in the State Normal School, at Terre Haute; and Johnny is deceased.
In his political views Mr. Flinn is a Democrat and firmly advocates the party principles. In 1894 he was elected on that ticket to the office of trustee of Deer Creek township and acceptably served for a term of four years. He is a self-made man, for he started out in business life empty- handed, and all that he has is the result of his own efforts. Energy and industry are the salient points of his character, and the exercise of these qualities have brought to him a comfortable property which numbers him among the substantial agriculturists of the community.
D R. A. MICHAEL .- The medical profession is honored by the superior talents of the able physician of Tipton, Indiana, Dr. A. Michael. He is a native of this state, born in Clinton county, December 28, 1859, a son of Samuel and Caroline (Minck) Michael. His father was a native of Virginia and his mother of Pennsylvania, and they had six children, namely: Eliza- beth A., wife of John Haverstick; Sarah I .. , wife of Louis Schimmel; Joseph D., Isaac, Dr. Addison and Dr. Charles W. Their father, a farmer by occu- pation, came to Indiana in 1838 and located in Clinton county, where he purchased a farm at four dollars an acre, brought up his children and died January 5, 1891, aged sixty-nine years and nine months. His wife died December 28, 1896, a sincere member of the German Baptist church. Mr ..
189
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
Michael had first married a Miss McGuire, a sister of his oldest sister's hus- band, and she died without children.
William Michael, the Doctor's grandfather, was a native of Germany who came to America and settled in Virginia, but died in Clinton county, Indiana, in 1872, at the age of seventy years. By occupation he was a farmer and he had twelve children. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Michael, Charles Minck, was a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, a black- smith by trade, who came west in a one-horse wagon from Allentown, of his native state, with six children, and driving a horse that was eighteen years old. His family walked most of the way. The last few years of his life was devoted to a poultry farm. He was a pioneer in Clinton county, and died there in 1890, at the age of eighty-four years.
Dr. Michael, whose name heads this article, was reared on his father's farm in Clinton county, where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. He attended the district schools of his neighborhood and the Northern Indiana Normal at Valparaiso, earning by his own labors the means to defray his school expenses; and such was his diligence that he well qualified himself for the teacher's profession, and accordingly he devoted himself to that most noble calling for about ten years, in the meantime studying medicine and theology. In 1887 he was licensed to preach by the "Dunkard " church, and he was two years in the ministry, his first charge being at Brooklyn, Iowa, where he received a call at eight hundred dollars a year, and taught school during the winter. He was very studious and economical, often burn- ing the midnight oil. Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-one, he was by his limited circumstances deprived of school, and when he attended the normal he felt unable to pay even the one dollar and forty cents a week required at the boarding-house, and boarded himself. Then, to consider that he qualified himself for three different professions despite all these obstacles, is to behold an example of energy and heroism seldom seen.
His medical diploma he received from the Kentucky School of Medicine. at Louisville, in 1891, and he began practicing the "healing art" in Tippecanoe county. Four years afterward he moved to Flora, Carroll county, where he followed his profession one year, when ill health compelled him to abandon his practice and resort to. the mountains of the southern states.
March 15, 1897, is the date of his arrival at Tipton, where he opened
190
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
an office and has since devoted his attention to the most important of all professions, that of medicine, with the success that might be expected of a natural insight into the nature of vitality and thorough qualification in medical studies. His office is in the Moore Brothers' block. He is a member of the Indiana Institute of Homeopathy, and fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. Politically he is a Republi- can, and in Clinton county he held the office of justice of the peace.
On the 28th day of December, 1884, he was united in matrimony with Miss Louisa J. Saylor, a daughter of Rev. Sanford H. and Sarah Ann (Bates) Saylor, and they have two children,-Guy G. and Sanford A. Mr. and Mrs. Michael are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The home of the family is at 109 South East street.
D ANIEL BRIMERMAN, a highly esteemed citizen of Harrison township, Howard county, whose post-office address is Alto, was born November 27, 1827, in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Casten Brimerman, was a native of Germany, born December 26, 1797, became a cooper by trade and emigrated to the United States, settling in Baltimore. In the year 1832 he removed to Preble county, Ohio, where he followed his trade. He finally died in Indianapolis, February 11, 1883, at the age of eighty-five years. For his wife he married Margaret Huffman, a daughter of Daniel Huffman, a native of Germany. born June 23, 1801, and she died May 14, 1883, aged eighty-one years. Of their nine children, five are living: Daniel, the sub- ject of this sketch; Frederick, of Webb City, Missouri; John, of Boone coun- ty, Iowa; Joseph, a resident of Illinois; and Henry, living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Mr. Daniel Brimerman was five years of age when his parents removed to Preble county, Ohio, and he attended school there in the old-time log school-house; but the labors necessary to sustain a livelihood for the family did not permit him to attend school after he had arrived at the age of fifteen years, even in the winter seasons. At the age of eighteen years, by permis- sion of his father, he left home to strike out into the world for himself, and he obtained employment in sawmills and in other capacities, working by the day. In the autumn of 1848 he came to Howard county and at first was
191
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
employed in the sawmill owned by Isaac Hollingsworth, near his present residence. During the summer he worked at the carpenter's trade. In 1850 he purchased eighty acres of land and began to engage in improving it and following agricultural pursuits. By purchase he has added to his realty pos- sessions, having now one hundred and twenty-seven acres of good farming land, well improved. For some time he has made a specialty of sheep rais- ing. In all his business he has been successful. At present he rents his farm.
In his political views Mr. Brimerman was at first a Whig, and ever since the dissolution of that party he has been a Republican. In fraternal relations he is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Howard Lodge, No. 93, in Kokomo, and to Alto Lodge, No. 276, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand. He is also a member of the grand lodge, and has been district deputy.
For his wife Mr. Brimerman married, November 15, 1860, Miss Rachel A. Newton, a daughter of Calvin Newton, of Rush county, this state, and formerly of Kentucky. His father, John Newton, was a soldier in the Rev- olutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Brimerman have had four children, but none are now living. They are bringing up a grandson, named Roy Morris: he is a son of their daughter Lucy, who married Hilas Morris June 17, 1886, and died March 23, 1892.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.