USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 39
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 39
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 39
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 39
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
387
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
essary then, and was appointed a kind of supply or extra man. He was so well liked for the manner in which he performed his work in this capacity that in 1852 he was placed regularly on the roll and became a fireman run- ning between Mifflin and Altoona. The next year he went to the Pennsyl- vania & Ohio, now the Fort Wayne road, and fired an engine between Alle- gheny and Crestline, Ohio, for six months, at the end of that time entering the employ of the Illinois Central, with which he remained for seven years, as fireman or as stationary engineer. In 1865 he went back to the Pitts- burg, Fort Wayne & Chicago road, and ran an engine three years between Crestline and Alliance, Ohio. He came in the year 1868 to the C., C. & I. C., now the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, and has since that time been upon the pay-roll of this company, and for the past sixteen years has been in the passenger service.
Only three accidents of a serious nature have occurred to Mr. Truman's train in the period of his long service. His first was near Massillon in 1865. Trains were not run then on strict telegraph orders as now, but it was the practice to wait at stations forty-five minutes at meeting points, and then make the next station. Mr. Truman left Alliance five hours and ten minutes late on this particular day without orders to be on the watch for the east bound train, while the latter received orders at Orrville to run with a clear track, and the consequence was a collision just out from Massillon, but with- out injury to himself. In 1869, while running out of Logansport, Mr. Tru- man had his engine turned over completely by the removal of a rail, and although he went with his charge he escaped unhurt. The last incident of this kind occurred in the Logansport yard at the Wabash crossing, when he failed to distinguish the proper signal and his engine collided with a Wabash freight, and this time he also escaped unhurt.
Mr. Truman has been one of the most constant and faithful men in his department of the service. He has seldom been off duty, and then not to enjoy an extended vacation. He has manned no less than seventy-two dif- ferent engines since he first took an engine out of the Logansport round- house.
While running west of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. Truman met at Derry station the young lady who afterward became his wife, Miss Abigail Albright, daughter of the station agent at Derry's, her parents being Fred- erick and Margaret (McKee) Albright. Their marriage was consummated at
388
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
that place March 15, 1854, and the children of their union are as follows: La Fayette F., an engineer on the Erie, who married Miss Alice Lee, and has four children-Mary, Fred, Harold and Ralph; Lawrence L., assistant road foreman of engines for the Pan Handle, married Miss Ada McKnight, and has one child, John H. ; and Charles H., an engineer on the Pan Handle, who married Miss Nellie Jackson, and has one child, Ivy. Mr. and Mrs. Truman also have an adopted child. Laura, whom they have reared from infancy to womanhood.
T THOMAS MCKINSTRY .- This gentleman is an ex-sheriff of Miami county, Indiana, a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county, and is ranked with the leading citizens of Peru. He is a son of James B. Mckinstry, of South Peru, who was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1828, and whose father, Thomas Mckinstry, was born in Pennsyl- vania, October 21, 1793. Thomas Mckinstry married Margaret Bratton, whose birth occurred January 21, 1800. The Mckinstrys are of Irish origin and were for several generations residents of Pennsylvania. In the year 1846 Thomas Mckinstry left the Keystone state, accompanied by his family, and came west to Indiana, arriving in Miami county, June 2d. He settled on a farm in Washington township, which he improved and on which he passed the rest of his life. He died here April 18, 1859. His wife passed away August 19, 1870. They brought with them to Indiana three sons and two daughters. George H., the eldest, is now a resident of Kansas. James B. was the second in order of birth. Joseph died at the age of twenty-one years. The two sisters were Sarah Ann and Caroline, the latter being now deceased. Another daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Marks, had preceded the fam- ily to Miami county, having come in 1840; and there were three daughters who remained in Pennsylvania. James B. Mckinstry has been engaged in farming the greater part of his life. He owned and occupied the homestead farm for many years. He married Louisa .A. Marquis, a native of Miami county, and seven children have been born to them, viz .: Anabel, wife of John L. York; George, of Anderson, Indiana; Thomas, whose name graces this sketch; Nellie, who married James D. Rhinebarger, died some years ago; Jennie, wife of Frank Pyle; Herman and Joseph.
Thomas Mckinstry, whose name initiates this review, and who inherits
389
CSS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
the name of his grandfather above mentioned, was born in Peru township, Miami county, Indiana, September 28, 1858. He was reared to the occu- pation of farming and remained at home until the age of twenty-one years, living in Peru, Butler and Washington townships, his educational advan- tages in youth being none other than the public schools afforded. On leav- ing home, he was employed by the superintendent of the county farm for a period of four years. After this he was engaged for a time with the firm of Steve Tudor & Company, of Peru. Next we find him acting as deputy sher- iff or traveling bailiff, for Sheriff James Rhinebarger, a position he filled about three years. At the end of this time Mr. Mckinstry became a candi- date for the nomination as sheriff to succeed Mr. Rhinebarger. He was the choice of fourteen candidates for the nomination on the Democratic ticket, and in the fall of 1892 was elected by a majority of five hundred over his opponent, Clinton B. Woods. In 1894 he was re-elected for a second term, his opponent being the same gentleman he had defeated at the former elec- tion. At the close of his second official term, he retired from the office with a consciousness that he had performed faithful service, and with the good will of his large number of acquaintances throughout the county. Shortly after retiring from office he purchased a farin in Butler township, and he is also manager and one of the proprietors of the S. Tudor & Company packing house, of South Peru. His residence is at 213 East Sixth street, Peru.
Mr. Mckinstry was married November 20, 1895, to Miss Ada M. Rees. Her father, Noah Rees, a native of Fayette county, Ohio, came to Miami county, Indiana, when a young man, and here married Rebecca Sullivan, who came to Miami county, with her parents, from Athens county, Ohio, when a child. Mr. and Mrs. Rees are now residents of Washington town- ship, this county.
W ILLIAM DONNELLY .- Among the representative business man of Kokomo, Indiana, is found the subject of this sketch, William Donnelly, of the firm of Ford & Donnelly, founders and machinists.
Mr. Donnelly is a native of the Keystone state. He was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, October 23, 1830, and is a son of John and Lydia (Riley) Donnelly, both natives of that state. In the Donnelly family were nine children, seven sons and two daughters, and of this number only four
390
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
are now living, namely: William; Martha, wife of David Anderson, of Ship- pensburg, Pennsylvania; Annie, a resident of Shippensburg: and Allison, also of Shippensburg. John Donnelly, the father, was a moulder by trade and was in the foundry business for many years, having charge of charcoal furnaces in the Cumberland valley. He died at Shippensburg in 1884, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife died thirty years before. She was a Catholic.
The grandparents of our subject also were Pennsylvanians. John Donnelly, his grandfather, was of Irish descent but was born in Pennsylvania, and in that state passed his life and died, being well advanced in years a the time of his death. By occupation he was a collier. He had a family of six children. The maternal grandfather of our subject died in middle life, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
William Donnelly was reared in his native state, attending school at Millerstown, now called Fairview, and remained in Pennsylvania until 1888, when he became identified with Kokomo. His father being a foundryman, he early learned the trade of machinist and has all his life been engaged in the foundry and machinist business. On coming to Kokomo in 1888, he bought the Kokomo Foundry and Machine Works and re-established the business, employing about forty men, and has since been connected with this establishment, having as his partner Mr. C. A. Ford, his son-in-law. They manufacture tin-plate machinery and boilers and do all kinds of job work. Also they do a large amount of repair work. Besides this, Mr. Don- nelly is interested in The Atlantic Steel & Tin-Plate Company, at Atlanta, Indiana, which employs about three hundred men, and which markets its goods all over the United States.
Mr. Donnelly resides at the corner of Washington and Elm streets. He was married in 1857 to Miss Marion Purdy, and their two children are Emma and Ida, the former the wife of Mr. C. A. Ford. Mr. and Mrs. Ford have four children, namely: Ida Belle, Lenora, Carl and Harry. Politically, Mr. Donnelly supports the Republican party.
C ARL W. KELLER .- Among the younger business men of Logansport this energetic, wide-awake merchant has been numbered for the past four years. Coming here a stranger, in 1893, he soon won the esteem and
391
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
respect of all with whom his business brought him into contact, and from that time until the present his popularity has steadily increased. He is the fortunate possessor of just those qualities which are essential to success in any line of business, and, having had much experience in the commercial world, he is an able financier. Thoroughly understanding the needs of his customers, he spares no efforts to please them and to meet their wishes in every regard.
Born January 16, 1867, Mr. Keller is thus in the prime of early man- hood, with a prosperous future opening out before him. He is a son of Emil F. and Frederica (Zimmerman) Keller, who are of German descent, as their names indicate. The birth-place of Carl W. Keller is Dunkirk, New York. He was favored with a liberal education, his preliminary learning being gained in the public schools of Dunkirk. Having determined to enter the business world, he decided to fully equip himself by taking a commercial course of instruction, and accordingly went to Buffalo, where he attended Bryant & Stratton's Business College and thoroughly mastered the intricacies of book- keeping, banking, higher mathematics, etc.
Leaving the college he had but small difficulty in obtaining a good situa- tion, and for the following year, 1886, was bookkeeper for a wholesale tea and coffee house in Buffalo, New York. Returning then to his old home he was offered a position in a railroad office and was thus employed for about twelve months. A better place then presenting itself, he became the book- keeper in a wholesale plumbing supplies house of Dunkirk, retaining this place for two years.
In 1890 Mr. Keller came to the Hoosier state, and locating in Indian- apolis he became assistant treasurer and bookkeeper of the Indiana Mutual Building & Loan Association of that city. In this important and trustworthy position he continued for nearly four years, at the end of which period he resigned and came to Logansport. Arriving here, he purchased the tailor- ing establishment formerly managed and owned by his brother, Emil F. Keller. From that time to the present he has devoted himself to his new undertaking and is meeting with deserved success. He handles only the best lines of goods, makes a point of securing skilled workmen and turns out nothing but first-class, artistic work.
Wherever he has resided for any length of time, Mr. Keller has gathered around him hosts of sincere friends, and in Logansport there has been no
.392
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
exception to the rule. He is a member in high standing of the Masonic fra- ternity, having reached the Scottish rite degrees, and is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
OSEPH C. HERRON, of the firm of Herron & Stratton, lawyers of J Kokomo, dates his birth at Falmouth, Fayette county, Indiana, March 28, 1866.
Thomas Herron, his father, was born on the Emerald Isle and lived there until 1856, when he came to America, landing at New York and com- ing west from there to Brookville, Indiana, where he lived a short time. Then he went to work on a farm in Fayette county. Shortly afterward he married Miss Lucy Fisher, a native of this state, and for a number of years he and his wife lived on a farm of David Baker. In the spring of 1871 he came to Kokomo with his family, and bought a farm of forty acres three miles northwest of town. Later he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land adjoining it, but has since sold forty acres, and now his farm com- prises one hundred and twenty acres, well improved and nicely cultivated. He has recently built a new house and barn on his original purchase and still resides here. In their religious views he and his wife differ somewhat, he being a Catholic and she a Methodist. Their children are Joseph C. and Belle, the latter being the wife of Ulysses G. Mills, who resides near Kokomo.
Of our subject's grandfathers, be it stated that Grandfather Herron lived and died in Ireland, and little is known of his history; Grandfather Solomon Fisher was a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and earned his daily bread by honest toil. He served as a soldier all through the war of the Rebellion, was wounded in battle, and was a pensioner up to the time of his death. He was the father of a large family.
Joseph C. Herron was reared on his father's farm, attended the district schools in his boyhood and later the Kokomo high school and the Ohio Normal University, at Ada. At the early age of fifteen he commenced teach- ing school and from that time on paid his own way. He taught for nine years. In the meantime he devoted all his leisure moments to the study of law. Indeed he began the study of law about the time he commenced
393
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
teaching, and for want of means to push his study in a law school he was compelled to delay the preparation for his profession. Finally, however, after long and tedious hours of home study, he passed a successful examina- tion and was admitted to the bar of Howard county. That was in 1891. Immediately after his admission he engaged in law practice in Kokomo, where he has since continued and where he has already built up a good business.
Mr. Herron resides at 311 North Smith street. He was married May 12, 1886, to Miss Anna Staatz, and they have three children, one son and two daughters: Thomas, Charlotte and Ruth.
Politically, he is a Democrat; fraternally, a Knight of Pythias, with membership in the Uniform Rank, and also a member of the B. P. O. E. Personally, he is kind-hearted and genial. He believes in extending sympa- thy to the poor and oppressed and is in highest favor with those who know him best. The law firm of Herron & Stratton occupy a fine suite of rooms, and have a good law library.
NDREW J. PRESCOTT, of Logansport, road foreman of engines of A the Pan Handle Railway Company, is a gentleman well known in rail- road circles throughout the east and middle west. He has been constantly in the train service of some road for nearly fifty years, having begun railroad- ing in 1849 as a fireman on the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad. He remained with that company three years, and was then induced to come west to the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, now a part of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and take a position as engineer. At that time he remained in Indiana only one season, being forced to abandon the swamps and malarious atmosphere of the state to rid himself of the ague, which was fastening itself upon him, and which was a constant menace to the lives of the first settlers of the state. Upon his return to New England, he took a position in the shops of the Boston & Maine Railroad Company, where he remained four years. He went to the Philadelphia & Reading Company about 1860, and ran an engine for four years, at the end of which time he was appointed master mechanic on the Catawissa Railroad, filling the position ten years. He came to the Pan Handle Company in 1873, as trav-
391
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
eling engineer, coming to Logansport on the 18th of September. He took charge of an engine some time later and was in the passenger service until the year 1890, when he was appointed to his present position, that of road fore- man of engines.
There are few men in the active service of the Pan Handle Company whose experience has been as diversified as has Mr. Prescott's. When he engaged in the railroad business in 1849, it was little more than an experi- ment instead of an established and permanent industry. The few lines of the east were operated independently, and system in their operation and management, now so much valued, was then unknown. No man has given his time and talents more unreservedly than has Mr. Prescott, during his almost fifty years of continuous service, to reach that great ultimate pertain- ing to any department of the service with which he has been identified.
Mr. Prescott was born at Meredith, Belknap county, New Hampshire, October 16, 1832. John D. Prescott, his father, was a native of Gilmanton, same county; was by occupation a farmer; and was married in early life to Miss Mary Gipson, who bore him eight children, Andrew J. being the seventh in order of birth. Andrew J. Prescott's life work was begun as a clerk for John Blaisdell, a grocer at Lakeport, with whom he remained until he turned his attention to railroading.
Mr. Prescott was married in 1854 to Elizabeth Huntington, a branch of the same family to which the great railroad magnate, Collis P. Huntington, belongs. Their children are George H. and Mary G.
Fraternally, Mr. Prescott is a Mason and has received all the degrees in the Masonic order up to and including the thirty-second.
JOHN MORROW .- The junior member of the firm of McCune & Mor- row, dealers in real estate, loans, etc., Kokomo, Indiana, John Morrow, was born in Howard county and has spent the whole of his life in the vicin- ity of Kokomo. His biography, in brief, is as follows:
John Morrow was ushered into life on his father's farm three miles south of Kokomo, Indiana, August 16, 1852, and is a son of Charles and Sarah (Lame) Morrow, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Pennsyl- vania. Charles Morrow came to Indiana from Kentucky in 1839 and was
395
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
located for a short time in Hamilton county. In 1845 he came to Howard county and bought a farm of eighty acres, three miles south of Kokomo. Afterward he sold this farm and purchased another, comprising ninety-four acres, located a mile further south, and to it he subsequently added fifty acres more. On this farm he reared his family, and made his home until a year ago, when he removed to Fairfield, where he has since resided. His first wife died in 1873, leaving him with six sons, namely: Jackson, Will- iam, John, Alfred, Charles and Edmund. She was a devoted member of the Baptist church, to which he also belongs. His present wife was formerly Miss Sarah Beatey, and by her he has had six children, four of whom are now living, viz. : Mattie, wife of Henry Crull; Mahlam, Emma and Virginia.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was James Morrow. He was of Irish descent and a native of Kentucky; by trade he was a cooper, but the greater part of his life was devoted to farming. He came to Indiana in pioneer days and settled first in Hamilton county and later in Howard county. He died on a farm one mile south of Kokomo, at a ripe old age, leaving a large family. Grandfather John Lame, the father of our subject's mother, was of Pennsylvania birth and descended from German stock. He, too, was one of the pioneer settlers of Indiana, living first in Howard and later in Porter county, where he died, leaving a large progeny.
John Morrow was brought up on his father's farm, as above indicated, and received his education in the district schools near his home. While still a boy at home he began life for himself by renting a piece of ground and raising a crop. Later he purchased twenty-four acres, to which he after- ward added ten acres, this being a portion of the home farm, and here he lived and carried on agricultural pursuits until 1895. For the past three years he has been engaged in the real-estate business in Kokomo, and resides at No. 272 South Buckeye street.
Mr. Morrow was married May 3, 1873, to Miss Cynthia Elliott, a daugh- ter of Abraham and Hannah (Weeks) Elliott, and their happy union has been blessed in the birth of three daughters-Pearl, Maudie and Nellie.
The Morrow family attend worship at Grace Methodist Episcopal church, of which both Mr. and Mrs. Morrow are consistent and worthy mem- bers. Politically, Mr. Morrow was formerly a Democrat, but now gives his support to the Prohibition cause and is one of the active workers of the party.
396
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY OF
AMES T. YOUNG. - Ohio is the native state of James T. Young, pro- J prietor of the West End sawmill. He was born in Miami county, on the 9th of April, 1847, his parents being John and Elizabeth (Thompson) Young, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of the Buckeye state. The paternal grandfather of our subject was likewise a native of Maryland and was of Scotch descent. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, during which a band of Indians attempted to take his life. Seeing their approach he started to run, the red men following. At length he gained the fort. He died about 1852. He reared a large family, and three of his sons are still living. The maternal grandfather of our subject, James Thompson, was a native of Ohio and was of German lineage. His business pursuits were those of farming and speculating, and he died in Ohio at an advanced age.
John Young was a cooper and farmer, and spent much of his life in Miami county, Ohio, where he located during the early settlement of that part of the state. He purchased a farm of two hundred acres lying near Covington, buying out the heirs of his father-in-law's estate, and greatly improved the farm. He also carried on quite an extensive cooperage busi- ness and hauled the products of the shop and farm to Cincinnati, before the day of railroads, keeping a number of teams employed in that way. He died on his farm about 1855, at the age of forty-six years, and his wife passed away during the infancy of her son, James. Both were members of the Christian (New-Light) church, and the father held various township offices. After the death of his first wife he married Miss Martha Shepherd, who died in 1868, and their two children have also passed away. There were three children by the first marriage, but one died in infancy, and Cynthia Ann died at the age of five years.
James T. Young is the only survivor of the family. He was reared in the county of his nativity, upon the farm of his guardian, Samuel Duncan, for at an early age he was left an orphan. In the district schools he acquired his education, and he continued to make his home with Mr. Duncan until he had attained his majority, with the exception of the time which he spent in the army. In 1863, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he responded to his country's call for troops, and became a member of Company G, Eighth Ohio Cavalry, in which he served until the close of the war. He was wounded at the battle of Liberty, in eastern Virginia, June 19, 1864, and, being left on the field of battle, was captured by the enemy and sent to
397
CASS, MIAMI, HOWARD AND TIPTON COUNTIES.
Andersonville prison, where he was incarcerated about four months. He was very seriously wounded and reported killed. He participated in the raid at Lynchburg and the battle of Lexington, Virginia, together with a number of skirmishes, being six weeks in the saddle. Always faithful to the starry banner and the cause it represented, he remained at the front until the close of hostilities, and returned home with an honorable war record.
Mr. Young was married May 5, 1868, to Miss Lucretia English, daughter of James and Lucretia (Russell) English. Two sons and a daughter were born to them: Samuel O., who operates a hoop factory in Daviess county, Indi- ana; Warren W., traveling salesman for a lace house of New York; and Martha Dillola, wife of George H. Stratton, who is in partnership with Samuel O. Young.
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.