USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 3
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 3
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 3
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 3
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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
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
attention to his real-estate investments, as formerly, and has met with suc- cess. He is now practically retired from the world of business, as he is well advanced in years and has served a long and faithful apprenticeship. For more than thirty years he has been a member of the Methodist church, and since he cast his first ballot he has been identified with the Democratic party.
In May, 1850, Andrew J. Sutton married Miss Barbara Horn, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania. Three sons and two daughters came to bless their hearts and home. Two of their number have been called to the better land and those who survive are: John E. Sutton, whose biog- raphy precedes this; Charles E., an attorney of Bozeman, Montana; and Mrs. H. S. Wilson, of Logansport.
C' HARLES L. HARRY, superintendent of the Citizens' Light & Power Company, of Kokomo, and also of the Kokomo City Railway Company, is a representative of the modern era of invention, enterprise and prosperity.
Mr. Harry was born in Seneca county, Ohio, January 7, 1855, a son of Baldwin W. and Sarah H. (Lawrence) Harry, who also were natives of the Buckeye state. They had three sons and one daughter, namely: Charles. L., of Kokomo; William H., of Shiawassee county, Michigan; Frank C., of East Saginaw, Michigan; and Della A., wife of Thomas Smeeth, of Bay City, same state.
Mr. Baldwin W. Harry by trade was a millwright, contractor and builder, and he is still living, in Hancock county, Ohio. The major part of his life has been passed in, and in the vicinity of, Seneca county, that state. His wife, who was an illustrious member of the Christian (Disciples') church, departed this life about the year 1889. Mr. Harry's grandfather on his. father's side was a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and a physi- cian, practicing the most of his life in Ohio, had three sons and three daugh- ters, and died in middle life, in Hancock county, Ohio. L. C. Lawrence, Mr. Harry's maternal grandfather, was also a native of Pennsylvania, emi- grated to Ohio, and conducted an extensive buggy trade in Fostoria for a number of years; then removed to Flat Rock, Michigan, where he resided the remainder of his life, passing away at the advanced age of ninety years. He was a very energetic man, made considerable money, was patriotic and.
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a fine Christian gentleman, belonging to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which body his wife also was an exemplary member. They had eleven children.
Mr. Charles L. Harry, whose name introduces this sketch, passed his youth in Wood county, Ohio, in a small village called Portage, in the Black Swamp, most of the time until he had reached the age of eighteen years. After attaining his elementary education at Portage he went to Bay City, Michigan, where he engaged in sawmill engineering and steamboating for a number of years. At length he drifted from those occupations into electrical engineering and the electric-light business, being seven years with the Swift Electric Light Company, at Bay City and Saginaw, Michigan, three years of that time as- engineer and the remaining time acting as superintendent for the company. He also was on the road selling machinery, erecting electric-light works at Menasha, Wisconsin, and Fremont, Ohio, and changing the horse-car lines at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to electric. Then returning to Bay City, Michigan, he put in an electric line, both in Bay City and West Bay City, and was there about four years.
On the 10th of September, 1896, he arrived in Kokomo to take charge as superntendent of the Citizens' Light and Power Company and the Kokomo City Railway, and this position, for which he is so well fitted by many years' experience and by inherited capacity and a system of honest principles, he now fills, to the satisfaction of the Kokomo public.
On the 5th day of July, 1877, he was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Clara J. Affleck, a daughter of John and Hattie (Coomer) Affleck, and they have had two children, -a son and a daughter, -Merrill L. and Florence J ; the latter died at the age of five years, inflicting a spiritual loss upon her parents than can never be mitigated. Mr. and Mrs. Harry are mem- bers of the Westminster Presbyterian church of Bay City, Michigan, and they have a fine home in West Bay City, as well as one in Kokomo, at 202 East Sycamore street. They are zealous members of the Order of the Eastern Star, while Mr. Harry is an appreciative member of the Masonic fraternity, also of the Order of Old Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Work- men, the Modern Woodmen of America and the American Association of Stationary Engineers. In his political principles he is a Republican. In West Bay City, Michigan, he was a member of the board of education there and also of the water-works board.
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J OHN O. HEATON, a retired farmer living in the northeast part of Kokomo, Indiana, is classed among the early settlers of this place.
Mr. Heaton was born in Warren county, Ohio, September 22, 1821, one of the family of eight children of Hon. William and Rachel (Osborn) Heaton, natives respectively of New Jersey and Ohio. Of this family only three are now living, namely: John Osborn, subject of this sketch; Lucinda, wife of Isaac Voor, of La Fayette, Indiana; and William, of Boise City, Idaho. The father was a tailor in early life, and later gave his attention to milling and farming. He came west to Louisville, Kentucky, with his par- ents when a child, and afterward moved to Warren county, Ohio. The first weather-board house he ever saw was in Cincinnati, and it was covered with clapboards. That was when Cincinnati was called Fort Washington. In 1829 he came from Warren county, Ohio, to La Fayette, Indiana, and eight miles southeast of that place built a mill and bought a half of five sections of land, where he lived until 1848. He came to Kokomo in 1848, and here he died the following year, at the age of sixty-three. His wife died in Tippe- canoe county in 1843, at the age of forty-three years. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a man of prominence in his day. In 1832 he served as a member of the Indiana state legislature, repre- senting Tippecanoe county; and at one time was a director in the La Fayette State Bank. During the war of 1812 he was employed by the government to make garments for the soldiers.
Jonah Heaton, the grandfather of John O., was a native of New Jersey. From there he moved to Pennsylvania, thence to Kentucky, and later to Ohio. He died on Caesar's creek, in Greene county, Ohio, at the age of sixty-five years. A gunsmith by trade, he made the first gun ever made in the west, that being before the Revolutionary war. He had a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. The Heatons are of Welsh origin. The original progenitor of the family in this country came to America with the Pilgrims early in the seventeenth century. The maternal grandfather of our subject was John Osborn, a native of North Carolina. Leaving the south he came up into Ohio at an early day and purchased a part of the north tier of the great Symmes tract of land, at twelve and one half cents per acre. There he carried on farming for several years and became a wealthy man. The last few years of his life were spent in New Orleans, where he died at the extreme old age of ninety-five years. While in Ohio he was a " Minute Man " under
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Sinclair, and was in Sinclair's defeat near Greenfield, in a fight with the Indians.
Having thus referred. to his ancestry, we turn now to the life of our immediate subject, John O. Heaton. He spent eighteen years of his early life in Tippecanoe county, being nine years old at the time his people moved there, as above stated. He recalls that La Fayette at that time had only one frame house. In June, 1847, he came to Kokomo and in the fall of that year pre-empted a claim of eighty acres, which has been his home ever since. He has, however, sold off all his land except ten acres, his home place, and twenty acres of the land he sold he first platted as an addition to the town. In his early manhood Mr. Heaton taught school one term. He has made his own way in the world since he was twenty-one, has never been afraid of honest toil, and has so lived that he has won and retained the con- fidence and good will of all with whom he has in any way come in contact.
Mr. Heaton was married February 25, 1844, to Miss Louisa Blystone, daughter of Henry and Julia Ann (Eckleburner) Blystone. Nine children were born to them, four sons and five daughters. The sons all died in infancy except one, George P., who was drowned at the age of twenty-two years. The daughters are Rachel, wife of Cyrus H. Clark, who has one child; Lucinda, wife of Ezra Jackson, who has six children; Emma, wife of O. A. Somers, who has two children; and Alice and Sarah, at home. Mrs. Heaton and her daughters Alice and Sarah are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Politically, Mr. Heaton is a Democrat. He served as school commis- sioner for many years and also has filled the office of township trustee. About 1858 he ran for county treasurer, had a big Republican majority to overcome, and while he received a flattering vote he was defeated.
D R. AUBREY WILBUR HOLCOMBE, homeopathic physician and surgeon, office at 44 West Mulberry street and residence at 168 West Taylor street, Kokomo, was born in Gibson county, Indiana, near Evansville, February 7, 1867, a son of Tihlman H. and Mary Elvira (Roseborough) Holcombe, who also were natives of this state. The Doctor has no brother and his only sister died in infancy. His father was a school-teacher until he
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
went into the army, in which he served as a member of a regiment of Indi- ana Infantry Volunteers, and filled the position of corporal. After the war he moved upon a farm, and while moving received a sunstroke, from the effects of which he died in 1870, at the early age of thirty years. His widow subsequently married Rev. E. D. Thomas, a Baptist minister, who died in June, 1897, and she survives, a second time a widow. By her last marriage she had six children, of whom five are living, namely, Harvey, Frank, Mary, Raymond and Nellie.
Silas Holcombe, the Doctor's grandfather, was a native of Virginia, of Welsh-English descent, came to Indiana in early day and located in Gibson county, near Fort Branch, upon a farm. He also was a regular Baptist minister and lived to a great age. He had three sons and one daughter. James Patrick Roseborough, Dr. Holcombe's maternal grandfather, was a native of Indiana and of Irish descent, his father having been born on the Emerald isle and emigrated to this country when young, settling in Indiana. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, was a miller by trade, and followed his vocation as such at Poseyville, this state, and besides he owned a small farm. He had seven daughters and one son, and finally died near Owensville, Gibson county, when about fifty years of age.
Dr. Holcombe was four years old when his mother married Rev. Mr. Thomas, and he was brought up by them, in Hendricks county, on a farm near Danville. He attended district schools and later the Central Nor- mal college at Danville, then taught school for three years. Entering Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, he applied himself diligently to the scientific studies underlying the art of medicine, and finally graduated at Hering Medical College, same city, in 1893. He began the practice of his chosen profession at Danville, Indiana, and from there came to Kokomo, the same year, where he has ever since been engaged in his favorite calling. He is professor of materia medica in Dunham Medical College, at Chicago, and belongs to the Indiana Institute of Homeopathy, of which he is secretary.
On the 10th day of May, 1894, the Doctor was united in marriage with Mrs. Belle McClain, widow of John McClain and daughter of James Thomp- son, a native of Howard county; her mother was Nancy Jane (Adair) Thomp- son. Dr. and Mrs. Holcombe have one child, whom they have named Helen Ariel. In religion, the Doctor belongs to the regular Baptist church, and in respect to the fraternities he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the
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Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Sons of Veterans. Politically he is a "middle-of-the road" Populist.
UDGE JOHN C. NELSON .- Prominent in the legal profession of Cass J
county stands the sterling citizen whose name heads this brief tribute to his worth. At all times a most true and loyal citizen, faithful to the best interests of his country in peace or war, he is honored and highly respected by all who enjoy his acquaintance. His admiring fellow citizens of Logans- port, where he has dwelt for many years, elected him to the position of mayor in 1887, and for two years he served, to the entire satisfaction of all, in that responsible office. During the more than thirty years which have elapsed since his location here, he has always had deeply at heart the well- being and improvement of the city, and has used his influence whenever pos- sible for the promotion of industries and institutions calculated to be of last- ing benefit to this section.
The birth of Judge Nelson occurred in Adams county, Ohio, February 27, 1841. He received a common-school education and was but sixteen years of age when he obtained a certificate to teach. Thus he was employed for several years, a portion of his time being devoted to the improvement of his own education. In October, 1861, he enlisted as a private soldier in Company A, Seventieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. A little later he was made second sergeant, and when the regiment was fully organized he was appointed sergeant major. In that capacity he served until March, 1862, when he was promoted to be second lieutenant of Company G. The regiment rendez- voused at Ripley, Ohio, and was ordered to Paducah, Kentucky, and assigned to the third brigade of the division commanded by General William T. Sherman, General Buckland, of the Seventy-second Ohio, being the brig- adier commander. Prior to the battle of Shiloh Mr. Nelson was detailed as aide to General Buckland, and acted as such in the ensuing engagement. Subsequently he rejoined his company and was commissioned first lieutenant, ranking as such from October 4, 1862. The division to which he belonged then took part in the siege of Corinth and were then sent to Memphis, Ten- nessee. There, under General Sherman, they participated in Grant's advance upon Vicksburg, and after the capture of Holly Springs the regiment was
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
stationed at points along the line of the Memphis & Nashville Railroad until May, 1863. With his regiment, Lieutenant Nelson proceeded next to Vicks- burg, for the purpose of re-enforcing Grant's army, then laying siege to the city. During the following winter the young man was detailed as ordnance officer on the staff of Brigadier-General Buckland, commander of the division, and acted in this capacity until the general was relieved by William Suey Smith, his successor. Our subject's next duty was as aid-de-camp of General Smith, but after the last of April, 1863, he was detailed to serve on the staff of Colonel Cockerill, who was in command of a brigade in the same division. He continued in this office while Vicksburg was besieged and until after Mis- sionary Ridge had been fought. March 11, 1864, he re-enlisted as a veteran in his old regiment and was commissioned captain of Company G. From that time until he was wounded at the battle of Ezra Church, he gallantly led his command from Chattanooga to Atlanta, serving under Sherman. After spending some time in the hospital he was sent to the north to recuperate.
As soon as he was able he rejoined his regiment, reaching the front in October, 1864. The following month he was appointed commissary of mus- ters to serve on the staff of General Hazen, who commanded the Second Divi- sion of the Fifteenth Army Corps. Continuing in this capacity, he went with Sherman's army on the march to the sea, from Atlanta to Savannah, from Savannah to Goldsboro, and from Goldsboro to Washington city. While in the capital, Captain Nelson mustered out nine regiments whose time had expired, and in June the remainder of the division commanded by General Oliver was ordered to Little Rock, Arkansas. At that point the Captain assisted in mustering out the entire division, and was himself honorably dis- charged from the service October 18, 1865, having served three years and ten months.
When his country no longer needed him, Judge Nelson returned to the peaceful vocations of life. Going to Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended a business college for several months, and in July, 1866, came to Logansport. He em- barked in the boot and shoe business here, but subsequently disposed of his interest to his partner. In the winter of 1868-9 he commenced the study of law in an Albany, New York, law school. Having completed the required course of lectures and study, he returned to this city and was in partnership with Judge D. H. Chase up to the time that the latter was elected judge of
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the Cass county circuit court. From that time until 1877 Judge Nelson was a partner of Dyer B. McConnell, and in the year mentioned was appointed judge of the Cass county superior court, by Governor Williams. In this dis- tinguished position he administered the duties devolving upon him with dig- nity and wisdom, serving until the court was abolished, in 1881, by act of the state legislature. Since then he has been giving his whole time to the general practice of law, and has met with most gratifying success. Since 1891 he has been in partnership with Quincy A. Myers. In his political faith he adheres to the principles of the Democratic party.
C APTAIN FRANK SWIGART. - For over thirty years this honored hero of the civil war has been successfully engaged in the practice of law in Logansport, Cass county. His record as a business man, as a loyal patriot and as a private citizen is one of which he has occasion to be proud, and we are pleased to be able to present a sketch of his career to the public.
Born near the town of New Carlisle, Clark county, Ohio, April 29, 1840, the Captain is a son of Samuel and Jane (McPherson) Swigart. In 1842 the family removed to Cass county, and, taking up their abode upon a tract of timber land, in Clay township, became pioneers of that portion of the county. There, in the beautiful and fertile Eel River valley, our subject grew to manhood, rugged and strong, on account of his outdoor life and hard toil, for he was of great assistance to his father in cutting down the forests and in clearing the farm. He attended the district school about three months of the year, and was a mere boy when he developed an especial fondness for . books, reading all that he could borrow or buy. In 1858 he became a stu- dent in a select normal school in Burnettsville, Indiana, continuing there for six months. The following year he went to Kokomo, this state, and for two full terms of six months each pursued his higher studies in the normal academy there. At the end of one of these terms he was selected to represent his class in an oratorical contest and was victorious.
In 1861 the young student was still attending the Kokomo normal school, and when war broke out he was among the first to respond to his country's call. He first enlisted under Colonel William L. Brown, who
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failed to get into the service with his men, and in October, 1861, our subject became a private of Company B, Forty-sixth Indiana Volunteers, and was soon appointed to serve as a sergeant. Upon April 20, 1862, he was made a second lieutenant and in October of the same year was commissioned cap- tain of the company. He took part in several of the most memorable and important campaigns of the war; and, among others, was in the one that included the expeditions against New Madrid and Island No. 10; the reduc- tion of Fort Pillow and Fort Randolph and the campaign of White river, for the relief of General Curtis. He also was engaged in the Yazoo expedition, whereby Grant hoped to find a waterway leading to the rear of Vicksburg. The Captain's division was selected to cross the Mississippi river at Grand Gulf and assault the rebel works, as soon as the Union ships silenced the heavy guns, which, however, they failed to do. The division was disem- barked and marched past the batteries, and on the morning of April 30, Captain Swigart was ordered to embark with his command on the Benton gunboat and cross the river. Complying with this order, he and his men were the first company landed on the eastern side of the " father of waters " in the movements that resulted in the capture of Vicksburg, the Confederate stronghold. He participated in the many and fateful battles of the ensuing campaign, including that of Port Gibson, May 1, 1863, Champion Hills, and the actual siege and capture of Vicksburg, when his brave little company were for forty days in the trenches in the front ranks of the battle. At the Cham- pion Hills engagement his division suffered fearfully, as in . three and a half hours of desperate fighting twelve hundred and two of their brave boys in blue were cut down by the enemy. After the second siege of Jackson, which surrendered July 17, 1863, the Captain was sent to the Department of the Gulf, and took part in the campaign preceding the battle of Sabine Cross Roads. In the last named encounter with the rebels he was severely wounded and as soon as it was possible he returned home, receiving his honorable dis- charged in October, 1864. His army record is replete with examples of his bravery and fidelity to duty, and his superiors always found in him one upon whom they could safely rely.
Not the least test of the character of the young soldier in war times comes when he returns home to the comparatively tame routine of business life and other interrupted plans. Captain Swigart, as soon as he was suffi- ciently recovered from his injuries, entered the office of Judge Lewis Cham-
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berlain, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1865, and at once embarked upon a career that has been very successful and prosperous from every point of view. He has always retained a sincere interest in his old comrades, and has served as post commander of the Logansport Grand Army of the Republic four different times, and has once been their delegate to the national encampment.
He has always been a stanch worker in the Republican party, and in 1888 was elected to act in the electoral college, being placed on the Harrison ticket. Though frequently a nominee of his party for prominent offices, he has always been at a great disadvantage, as his county and district are strongly Democratic. In 1889 President Harrison appointed him to the responsible position of chief of the law division of the comptroller's office, in the treasury department, in Washington. While he was acting in that capacity his division decided upon about forty thousand cases, and of this large number but three were overruled, two by the comptroller and one by the secretary of the treasury. Since he resigned his office the Captain has devoted himself exclusively to his professional duties.
October 3, 1865, Mr. Swigart and Margaretta I. Kline were married. Their union has been blessed with five children, namely: Charles E., William M., Jesse E., John F. and Peter D.
D R. ROBERT Q. WILSON .- The career of Dr. Wilson is another impressive example of push and energy against all obstacles and the consequent rise from comparative poverty to affluence. When he first came to this state in 1843 he had but forty cents. He has made his own way in the world, educating himself and honestly earning every dollar he has ever possessed. He has now been so long a resident of this state and of Kokomo, doing honor to his profession, that he can well be considered a "stand-by," a pillar of society which cannot be broken down.
Referring first to his genealogy, we may state that his parents, James and Mary Ann (Wallace) Wilson, were Scotch-Irish from the north of Ireland, which section of Christendom has probably furnished the world with more of the best elements of society and of the state, proportionally, than any other country of equal area in the world. His father in this country was a furni-
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ture dealer and manufacturer of spindles at Concord, Pennsylvania, twenty miles from Chambersburg. While a resident there he was for twenty-five years the postmaster, and each of his sons served his time in the post-office; and when he came west they in succession have taken charge of the office. He moved to Wooster, Ohio, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying at the age of about seventy years; his wife had died many years previously. Both were members of the United Presbyterian church and were as exemplary in their conduct as any people who ever lived. He was married three times, -first to a Miss Ray, by whom he had one child, named John; secondly. to . Miss Wallace; and thirdly to Mrs. Devor.
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