USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 22
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 22
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 22
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 22
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The subject of this sketch, Henry Gotshall, was born April 25, 1827, in Pennsylvania, reared to farm work and habits of industry and economy, but had very little opportunity for a school education. The schools during the time of his youth were kept in the primitive log structures so universally uni- form throughout the pioneer west, furnished with slab seats and writing desks, greased-paper windows and a large fire-place, for which the boys of the school cut the wood. Being sustained only by volunteer subscription, these schools were of course very meager in their accommodations and were correspond- ingly limited in their duration, being kept but a few months during the year. When twenty-one years of age Mr. Gotshall attended the first free school taught in the state. However, he has obtained considerable education of the practical kind, from experience, observation and study. Being a man of good judgment and of industrious habits, he has naturally prospered in his calling, and has ever been a faithful citizen and useful member of the com- munity.
For his wife he married Miss Maria J. Rodrick, a native of Maryland and a sister of Martin G. Rodrick, a pioneer of Washington township, who came here when eighteen years old. For a time she and her brother men- tioned resided in Ohio, on their westward emigration. Her father, Daniel Rodrick, departed this life at the age of seventy-two years.
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The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gotshall are: Sarah, who died leaving five children-Ledy, Florence E., Edith, Burt and Charles H .; Alice, who died at the age of seven years; Charlotte, the wife of William Riley, who have three children-Maud, Harvey and Katie; Hamlin Franklin, who resides on a portion of his father's land; Amanda, who married Charles Wilson, of Tipton township, and has two children-Henry J. and Byron; and Harvey, at his parental home.
Politically Mr. Gotshall is a Republican, casting his first vote as a Whig for Zachary Taylor in 1848. In religion he is an active and influential men- ber of the Dunkard church, and has a reputation for honesty, industry and a disposition to attend humbly and faithfully to his own affairs without mixing up with "politics " and neighborhood gossip. He succeeds in his ende avor to preach more by example than precept.
C HARLES R. HUGHES .- Says Shakespeare, "The purest treasure mor- tal times afford is spotless reputation; that away, men are but gilded loam or painted clay." Reputation is indeed the greatest treasure one can have in this world. The life and career of the gentleman of whom we in these paragraphs write constitute a practical illustration of the value of this maxim, but back of all this is the native carefulness which leads to self dis- cipline and a good reputation.
Mr. Hughes, the popular and efficient clerk of the Miami circuit court, was born in Marion county, this state, near Indianapolis, November 30, 1858. His father, Isham Hughes, was a son of Nixon and Eliza Hughes, who were pioneers of that county. The birth of Nixon Hughes, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, occurred December 27, 1806, and that of his wife Eliza, nce Buchanan, May 1, 1808, and her death occurred September 29, 1862, at the age of sixty-four years. She was the daughter of Robert and Sarah Buchanan, the former born October 20, 1780, and the lat- ter July 16, 1784. These, as will be observed, were great-grandparents of Charles R. Hughes, and the maternal grandparents of his father, Isham Hughes. The last mentioned married Sarepta A. Orm, a native of Mays- ville, Kentucky, who came to Indiana with her parents when a young girl. Her death occurred October 6, 1897, at Indianapolis, where her surviving husband still lives.
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To Isham Hughes and wife were born eight children, five of whom are living. The latter comprise three sons and two daughters, as follows: Charles R .; Fanny, wife of James Dildine, of Columbus, Ohio; James A., of Bakersfield, California; Frank, of Evansville, Indiana, and Luella, of Indianapolis.
Charles R. Hughes was born in Indianapolis and lived on a farm a few years in early life, but when very young his parents returned to Indianapolis, where he attended the public schools, graduating in 1875. During school vaca- tions and for a short time after leaving school, he was engaged as clerk in two of the large dry-goods houses in that city, and was for a time employed by the law firm of Baker, Horde & Hendricks; but his chief occupation for many years was railroading, beginning his career in that line as an employee of the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad Company; and during his railroad life he was employed also on all the lines of the Wabash system east of the Mis- sissippi river, and was regarded as one of the best engineers of the system. He was elected as clerk of the Miami circuit court at the election held November 4, 1894, and took charge of the office in June, 1895. He is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens, and is a valuable member of the fraternal orders of Odd Fellows, Freemasons and Elks. In his political sentiments he is a Democrat.
April 19, 1881, he was united in marriage with Miss Maggie E. Burnett, daughter of Absalom and Elizabeth (Baughn) Burnett, pioneers of Miami county. Mrs. Hughes before her marriage was a teacher in the public schools, where she was accomplished and successful. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have two children: Fannie May, born May 1, 1883, and Charles, August 1, 1886.
G EORGE L. MURDEN, proprietor of a livery and sale stable in Peru, Indiana, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Miami county, his parents being Thomas W. and Cynthia A. (Smith) Murden.
Thomas W. Murden was born in the state of Maryland, September 25, 1822, son of Charles and Martha (Williams) Murden. Charles Murden and family emigrated to Indiana in 1833, and the following year became residents of Miami county, the family home being established near the village of Mex- ico. There he passed the residue of his life and died. His widow survived
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him for many years, passing away at the age of ninety-five. They were the parents of thirteen children, and of this number nine are still living. Thomas William Murden was about twelve years of age at the time he came with his father's family to Miami county. Here, August 15, 1844, he was married to Miss Cynthia Ann Smith, who was born November 13, 1826, daughter of Thomas and Catherine Smith, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of North Carolina. Thomas Smith and family came to Miami county, Indiana. in 1830 and settled on land a short distance south of Mexico, where he lived a few years, and whence he removed to Chili, same county. At the latter place he made permanent settlement, passing to the spiritual world there February 28, 1865, at the age of sixty-five years; the wife and mother following her husband a few days later, her death occurring on the 2d of March, following, at the age of fifty-eight years. They were the parents of fifteen children, and as far as known thirteen are still living.
In December, 1846, Thomas W. Murden and family settled near McGrawville, Miami county, and March, 1860, removed to the farm in Clay township, which became the permanent home of the family, and where Mr. Murden died August 13, 1895, at the age of seventy-three years, and after fifty-one years of married life. Mr. Murden and wife were the parents of ten children, nine of whom grew to mature years and seven of whom are still living. These are Mrs. Ann Hutchinson; Mrs. Catherine Erb; Irvin, a res- ident of Marion, Indiana; George L., whose name introduces this sketch; Philora, wife of R. Bayless; Oliver S., and Rebecca Ann, wife of Daniel F. Deish. The deceased are Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Fiser, who died in 1894; William, who died at the age of thirty-three years; and Mary Adelle, who died in infancy. Mrs. Murden still resides at the old home. She is a woman of more than ordinary intelligence and her memory of the early times in Miami county is remarkable. Having come to Miami county with her parents in 1830, when but four years of age, she has passed nearly seventy years of her life here, being one of the oldest inhabitants of the county in point of years of residence.
It was on the home farm in Clay township, Miami county, that George L. Murden was ushered into life, the date of his birth being September 6, 1860. He has spent all his life in this county. On leaving the farm he came to Peru and engaged in the livery business at the corner of Second and Miami streets, where at this writing he is doing a prosperous business. Octo-
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ber 21, 1897, Mr. Murden sustained a loss of five thousand dollars by fire, at which time his barn, fourteen horses, harness, grain and vehicles were destroyed. He at once rebuilt, on the same site. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Hettie Hamilton, have had three sons, only one of whom, Jesse, is living.
AMES H. STROUSE has had a successful railroad career covering a J number of years, and as one of the skilled engineers running in and out of Logansport he is deserving of personal mention 'in connection with bio- graphical sketches of other representative railroad and business men of this locality.
James H. Strouse is a native Hoosier. He dates his birth in Rockville, Indiana, January 7, 1851. Samuel Strouse, his father, is a native of Ger- many, who came to this country in the year 1840 and settled in Parke county, Indiana, where he has since maintained his home. During the Civil war he was a prominent dealer in horses and mules, as agent for the government, and since the war he has devoted himself to the profitable pursuits of stock dealing and farming. He married Miss Frances Baker, and James H., our subject, is the third of their five children.
James H. Strouse spent his childhood on his father's farm, and while the war of the Rebellion was in progress he was a drummer boy in the state militia, helping to recruit companies and bury the dead. His railroad experience had its beginning in 1864, when he accepted the position of train- boy on the Evansville & Crawfordsville railroad, between Rockville and Evansville. Later he was in the employ of the same road as brakeman on a passenger train. In the meantime, however, he spent several years in the Rockville schools, for he began railroading before his schooling was com- pleted. When the Logansport, Crawfordsville & Southwestern Railway Company took possession of the Crawfordsville & Evansville Railroad, in 1870, Mr. Strouse came to the new corporation and was a passenger brake- man on the first train that the company ran into Logansport. He ran bag- gage eighteen months of the first two years after the road was finished to this point. Deciding to put himself in line for the locomotive service, he obtained a position as fireman, and was promoted in 1877, after three years' firing, to engineer, and was placed on the extra passenger list. He has now a per-
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manent passenger run on the Vandalia line from Logansport to St. Joseph, Michigan.
At Rockville, Indiana, in 1872, Mr. Strouse was united in marriage to Miss Ella Viquesney, who died a few years later, leaving him with one child, Kate A., who is now an accomplished young woman, employed in the kinder- garten department of the Arkansas Deaf Mute Asylum. She was educated in Mrs. Blaker's kindergarten school in Indianapolis. May 26, 1887, Mr. Strouse wedded Miss Clara M. Moore, daughter of John F. Moore, of Boise City, Idaho. Mr. Moore is one of the oldest gold-miners of the Rockies. His three sons, John M., William F. and Melvin A , are with him engaged in mining near Boise City. By his present wife Mr. Strouse has two chil- dren, Samuel F. and Nellie M.
W ILLIAM H. STALEY, of the firm of Staley & Staley, proprietors and editors of the Kokomo Evening News and the Kokomo Weekly News, Kokomo, Indiana, is a native of this state, born in Carroll county, April 19, 1845, son of Aaron and Rebecca (Baker) Staley, natives of Ohio.
Aaron Staley was one of the early pioneers of Indiana, the date of his arrival here being 1826. He settled in Carroll county, and there for a num- ber of years worked at his trade, that of cabinet-maker. A consistent Christian and worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church, he was a man whose influence for good was felt in the community in which he lived. He died in 1854, at the age of fifty-seven years. By his first wife he had four children, two of whom are now living: Erastus H., of Frankfort, Indi- ana, and Marietta, wife of Henry Fowler, of luka, Kansas. His second wife, the mother of our subject, bore him three children, of whom one is deceased. Those living are William H. and Lewis, the latter a resident of Peru, Indiana. Their mother, also, was a Methodist. She died in 1852.
The Staleys are of German origin and representatives of the family were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania. Grandfather Staley was born in Pennsylvania and was a soldier in the war of 1812. About the beginning of the present century he left his home in Pennsylvania and came west, settling in Ohio, then a frontier district known as the Western Reserve. He died in Ohio at an advanced age, as also did his wife.
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She was a native of the Old Dominion state. The maternal grand- father of William H. Staley was Daniel Baker, a native of Virginia and a descendant of French-Huguenot stock. He, too, was a veteran of the war of 1812, and his father was a Revolutionary soldier. In the year 1822 he came to Carroll county, Indiana, and settled on a farm, where he passed the residue of his life and where he died at the age of seventy-seven years. He was the father of thirteen children.
William H. Staley, the immediate subject of this résumé, spent his boy- hood days on a farm in Carroll county. After completing his studies in the common schools he entered the Battle Ground Academy, where he was a student at the time the cloud of civil war gathered and burst upon the coun- try. His grandsires, as above stated, had been participants in the earlier wars which were waged in this country, and when civil strife was inaugu- rated young Staley was not slow to show his patriotism. In 1861, at the age of seventeen, he tendered his service to the Union cause and went to the front as a member of Company K, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the fortunes of which he shared for three years. The last five months of his service he was a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Indiana Regiment and had the rank of lieutenant. Among the engagements in which he participated were those of Mill Springs, Perryville, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, Peach Tree Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, New Hope Church, numerous skirmishes, and the whole of the Atlanta campaign. At Chickamauga he was wounded in the left shoulder. Through- out his army life he acted the part of a brave, true soldier, and his pro- motion to the lieutenancy was an honor fittingly bestowed.
At the close of the war Mr. Staley returned to Indiana and engaged in railroading, first on the Wabash and later as an engineer on the Mississippi Central, spending in all twelve years in railroad employ. On severing his connection with railroad service he turned his attention to the newspaper business. For one year he was editor of the Frankfort (Ind.) Banner, and at the end of that time he and his son, Edwin T., established the Frankfort Evening News, which they together published two years. Then Edwin T. sold his interest to Edward H. Burns, who was associated with Mr. Staley in the publication of the News until 1896. They purchased the Frankfort Banner, the organ of the Republican party in Clinton county, in 1887, and continued the issue of both papers until 1896, when Mr. Staley sold out to
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Mr. Burns, and came to Kokomo. Here he and his son established the Kokomo Evening News and the Kokomo Weekly News, Republican papers, which they have since ably conducted.
Mr. Staley resides at 198 East Sycamore street. He was married March 29, 1866, to Miss Elizabeth J. Guinn, daughter of Thomas W. Guinn, and they have an only child, Edwin T.
Reared in the Methodist church, Mr. Staley still clings to this faith, he and his wife both being active members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Kokomo. Fraternally, he is identified with the Masonic order, Knights of Pythias and Grand Army of the Republic. While he has always been a stanch Republican, earnest and efficient in advocating Republican principles through the columns of his paper, he has never held a public office nor has he ever been a candidate.
Edwin T. Staley is ranked with the enterprising and up-to-date young men of Kokomo. He started out in life as a teacher, at the age of sixteen, taught two years and then began learning the printer's trade, which he followed two years, at the end of that time becoming associated with his father in establishing the News. Since then he has devoted his whole time to the newspaper busi- ness. After selling out to Mr. Burns, as stated above, he was city editor of the News-Banner. a position he filled until he engaged in his present enterprise.
He was married September 20, 1894, to Miss Jeannette Coulter, daugh- ter of James W. Coulter, president of the First National Bank of Frankfort. Mrs. Staley is a member of the Presbyterian church. The fraternal organi- zations to which Mr. Staley belongs are the Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and Sons of Veterans.
D ANIEL LEEDY, deceased, in his life-time a resident on section 3, Washington township, Cass county, was born December 3, 1815, near Dayton, Ohio, and emigrated thence to Miami county, this state, coming on horseback, and after a residence there of fifteen years he located on section 3, Washington township, Cass county, where he was a pioneer, cleared the land and made a fine farm, and where he ultimately died, September 3, 1868. He was indeed a pioneer in two different localities, developing good farms, and had more than his share of the hardships and privations of fron-
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tier life. When he located upon his place in Washington township there were twenty-three acres cleared; but all the rest of the improvements since seen there have been the result of his own taste and the handiwork of his own toil. Economy and good judgment characterized his life, with the success that is certain to come from such qualities.
He was married in Miami county, this state, to Elizabeth Jane Nelson, who was born two miles from Cincinnati and when ten years of age was brought by her parents in their emigration to Rush county, this state. Her father, a farmer, was conspicuous for energy and great tenacity of purpose. Mr. and Mrs. Leedy had nine children, as follows: Susannah, who had six children, and is deceased: the four living children are Bertha, who is mar- ried and has one child, named Charles; Frank, who also is married and has. two children-Maud and Jesse. Ati is single, and Ira, who is married and has one child, Agnes. Ira, the third child of the subject of this sketch, died leaving five children-Alva, Flora, Edith, Mary and Harrison. Barton, the- fourth born, has one child, Mary, and resides in Kansas City, Missouri. Ann, who became the wife of Samuel Long and has the following six chil- dren: Charles H., Louis Jasper (who has one child, May Rena), Minnie A., Angie A., Joseph G. and Ruby G. Lewis J., whose children are named Percy, Cully, Carl and Sadie, resides in Howard county, Indiana. William H., whose children are Bessie, Ruth and Grace, lives in Indianapolis, this state. 'Rebecca, who married P. K. Schaffer. Charlotte became the wife of Peter Duncan and has two children-Delmar and Bessie. Henry, whose one child is named Maggie, is a resident of Plymouth, Indiana. Thus it is seen that Mr. Leedy was fortunate in having many grandchildren to " rise up and call him blessed."
In his views of the great national questions Mr. Leedy coincided with the Republican party. In religion he was brought up in the Dunkard church; later in life he became connected with the Christian church, which relation he sustained for twenty years, and then returned to his "first love" and remained a member of the old "Dunkard " or "German Baptist" church the rest of his life. The surviving widow is an active and intelligent lady, successfully managing the old farmstead since the death of her husband. Surrounded by her loyal children and grandchildren, she is enjoying the evening of her useful life. Mrs. Leedy has nine great-grandchildren and. twenty-four grandchildren.
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W ILLIAM E. MOWBRAY .- Peru, Indiana, is honored by the profes- sional career of one of its oldest citizens, Mr. W. E. Mowbray, attorney and counselor at law. A representative of a pioneer family of this county, he was born in what is now the city of Peru, on the 10th of September, 1841.
His father, William R. Mowbray, was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1806, a son of William Mowbray. The original American ancestor was from Scotland and a resident of the state of Maryland. On arriving at man's estate, William R. Mowbray was united in marriage to Harriet S. Fenimore, who became the mother of the subject of this sketch. She was a native of Ohio, a daughter of Ebenezer Fenimore. Her paternal ancestry is not very well defined, but the name is a common one in the earlier history of New England and of the "Middle States," and the ancestry of Ebenezer Fenimore were doubtless among the earlier settlers of this country. Her mother's fam- ily name was Rhett, a name prominent in the history of the south, from which portion of the Union the family formerly came.
In October, 1834, William R. Mowbray and wife emigrated from Ohio to Indiana and located on the site of the present city of Peru, which was then but a hamlet. The Wabash & Erie canal was then in process of con- struction, and even then Peru gave promise of becoming an important point. Mr. Mowbray was a boot and shoe maker by trade, and he has the honor of making the first pair of boots and shoes in the place. The family' continued to reside here till 1845, when they removed to the farm which Mr. Mowbray had purchased in Harrison township, and this was the home of the family till the death of the parents. The wife and mother passed away in 1878, and the death of Mr. Mowbray occurred on January 29, 1881, at the age of nearly seventy-five years. He was esteemed as an honorable, upright citizen and Christian gentleman. In public office he served as the second treasurer of Miami county. Being one of the early Methodists he assisted in organizing the first Methodist Episcopal church in Peru. He and his good wife left to their children the example of lives worthy of emulation. Of their ten children only five grew up to mature years and three are now living, viz. : Mrs. Maria Woolpert, of Kalkaska, Michigan; William E., of this sketch; and Joseph F., also of Kalkaska. Those who attained to mature years and have passed away were Mary B. and Rhoda R., both of whom left families.
William E. Mowbray was educated in the public schools and was a stu- dent of the high school of the city when the war of the Rebellion was inau-
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gurated by the secession of the southern states. Like many thousands of the youth of the land he left the school-room to shoulder a musket in defense of the Union, enlisting in August, 1862, in Company C, Twelfth Regiment Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry. He was severely wounded at the battle of Mission- ary Ridge, which resulted in his honorable discharge from the service. His disability on account of his wound was so great as to prevent his re-enlist- ment, which he desired to do. He had previously participated with his reg- iment in the unfortunate battle of Richmond, Kentucky, where the regiment lost one hundred and seventy-six men, killed and wounded; but in that disas- trous affair he escaped without injury.
Mr. Mowbray had decided to enter the legal profession before the war and had pursued the study of law to some extent. He now resumed his study in the office of Judge John Mitchell, under whose kind and able instruc- tion he made rapid progress, and was admitted to practice in 1865; and he has followed his chosen profession in the city of his birth ever since 1867, having been previously located at Warsaw for about a year. He is recog- nized as an able and conscientious lawyer, and as a citizen he is held in high esteem. He is prominently connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a trustee since the two churches of the city were con- solidated in 1875. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and while not an office-seeker he takes a commendable interest in the success of the principles of his party.
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