USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 40
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 40
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 40
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 40
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After his marriage the subject of this sketch removed to Darke county, Ohio, and, near Versailles, built a tile factory, which he operated for three years. In 1872 he came to Indiana and located at Redkey, Jay county, where he manufactured brick and tile for three years, on the expiration of which period he sold out and remove to Geneva, Adams county, where he carried on a similar enterprise until 1890. He also followed farming there. Through the past eight years he has resided in Kokomo. On his arrival here he purchased the sawmill owned by J. M. Dawson, and has since engaged in the manufacture of lumber of various kinds, shipping his product to various parts of the country. He employs from ten to fifteen men, and is doing a prosperous and gratifying business.
Mr. and Mrs. Young have a very pleasant home in Kokomo, a residence built in modern style, tastefully furnished and pervaded by an air of hospi- tality that is most charming. They are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Young is now serving as church treasurer and a member of the board of trustees. He belongs to Thomas J. Harrison Post, No. 30, G. A. R., and in his political views is a Republican.
AMES H. FETTER .- On the IIth of October, 1861, there arrived in J Peru one who was destined to play an important part in the commercial activity of Peru, and who is now known as one of its leading and most enter- prising merchants, James H. Fetter. He was born in Sunbury, Pennsyl-
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vania, on the 28th of February, 1842, his parents being Samuel and Mary (Wise) Fetter, also natives of the Keystone state. The great-grand- father of our subject on the paternal side, was a native of Germany and was the founder of the family in America. The maternal ancestors were English. Samuel Fetter first learned the trade of cabinet-maker and was an excellent workman. He later became a carpenter and builder by occupation, follow- ing that pursuit as a means of securing a livelihood throughout his business career. After a long residence in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he removed with his family to Sunbury, where he and his wife spent their remaining days.
James H. Fetter was the eleventh in order of birth in their family of twelve children. He acquired an academic education and for a time was engaged as instructor in the academy in which he had been a student. Sub- sequently he secured a clerkship in a store in his native town, and in Octo- ber, 1861, as before stated, he came to Peru, where he has since made his home. He at once assumed the duties of deputy postmaster under his brother, H. G. Fetter, and continued to serve in that capacity until August 6, 1865, when he was commissioned postmaster. He administered the affairs of the office in a most prompt and efficient manner until April 1, 1879, winning the commendation of all concerned, and then retiring after seventeen and one-half years of service there-four years as deputy and almost fourteen years as chief. About a year after his retirement from the postoffice Mr. Fetter engaged in the furniture business, and a year later broadened his field of operations by adding an undertaking department. He has since conducted this enterprise and has one of the principal business houses in his line in northern Indiana. He carries a large and well assorted stock of furniture, which is an indication of the liberal patronage which he enjoys.
On the 19th of March, 1873, Mr. Fetter was united in marriage to Miss Lucy A. Adkison, daughter of Lewis D. Adkison, one of the well known and highly respected pioneers of Peru. Mrs. Fetter accompanied her par- ents to California, in 1855, and remained there for thirteen years, acquiring a liberal education on the Pacific slope. Mr. and Mrs. Fetter have a son and daughter, Robert A. and Florence C. The parents hold membership in the First Presbyterian church of Peru, with which Mr. Fetter has been con- nected since 1863, and in point of service he is the senior elder of the church. The historical sketch of the church, which appears in connection with the
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biography of its present pastor, Rev. Harry Nyce, was principally taken from an account of the church that Mr. Fetter compiled several years ago. He is also a valued member of several societies and fraternal orders, including the Odd Fellows, Masonic, the Royal Arcanum, Ben Hur and Sexennial League.
A LBERT F. NYE, M. D .- The numerous friends of this rising young physician of Logansport, Cass county, are safe in their predictions of success for him in his chosen field of work. Energy, perseverance in what- ever he undertakes, and many other strong traits of character are noticeable qualities in his nature and are the basis of his friends' belief in his future prosperity. The same will power and determination which he has mani- fested in gaining an education and foot-hold will unquestionably bring him to the front ranks of the medical profession within a few years.
One of the native sons of the Buckeye state, Dr. Nye was born in the enterprising town of Fostoria, Seneca county, September 4, 1873. He is a son of John P. and Mary A. (Kern) Nye, both of whom are natives of the state of Ohio. The first nine years in the life of our subject were spent at his parental home, and in 1882 he came to make his home in Logansport with an uncle, J. D. Johnston, the proprietor of the Johnston hotel. The lad attended the grammar schools of this place and later pursued the curriculum of studies comprised in the high-school course. Having completed his liter- ary and scientific education the youth went to Texas, being then about fifteen or sixteen years of age. He was variously occupied in the "Lone Star " state for the succeeding three years, returning to Logansport when in his twentieth year.
Having fully made up his mind as to his future vocation Dr. Nye entered the office of Dr. M. A. Jordan, a well-known physician of this city, and began the study of medicine under his judicious tutelage. After finishing his pre- liminary work, he entered the medical department of the University of Cin- cinnati, formerly styled the Ohio Medical College. From this justly cele- brated institution of learning our subject was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the spring of 1897. He immediately returned to Logansport and established an office in a convenient portion of the business center. He is a great student and passes much of his leisure time in perus-
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ing the leading journals published in the interests of his profession. It is his laudable ambition to keep fully abreast of the times in all modern discoveries in the treatment and cure of disease and to be progressive in all his methods. At the same time he is sufficiently conservative to deem it wise to adhere to the old and tried ways the merit of which is unquestioned.
Socially Dr. Nye is deservedly popular. His cheerful, genial disposition is such as readily wins friends, and, what is still better, he has the faculty of keeping friends once made. He uses his right of franchise on behalf of the nominees and principles of the Democratic party.
W ILLIAM W. HANEY .- It has been left to modern civilization to per- petuate by written record the lives of those who have been prominent factors in the upbuilding of towns, cities and countries. Deeds of battle have been the theme of story and song for the earliest ages, but the man who quietly remained in the ranks of business, performing each day's duty as it came to him and promoting the general prosperity through his individual efforts and close attention to business, was unnoticed by the singer, poet and historian. To-day we would know who are the founders of cities, and we find in biography a subject that yields in point of interest and profit to no other. In the development of the state of Indiana Mr. Haney bore a very prominent part. He came to the west in its pioneer days and was a leading factor in the promotion of those interests that open up the way to civilization and that constitute the foundation upon which the future growth and sub- stantial prosperity of a community or state is effected. His name is insep- arably interwoven with the history of Indiana's splendid advancement and he ranks among the honored pioneers of the state.
Mr. Haney was a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, born December 25, 1809, a son of Joseph and Mary (Weaver) Haney. His parents were in limited financial circumstances, and in consequence could not provide their son with educational privileges beyond those afforded in the country schools of that early period. Therefore Mr. Haney was not a well educated man in the sense of academical or college training but he nevertheless possessed keen powers of perception and a retentive memory, was a close student of current events and through an active business career acquired a fund of
W. W. Haney.
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knowledge and a practical training that enabled him to achieve more than ordinary success in life. His father was an agriculturist and on the home farm his boyhood days were passed. Later he worked in a hotel for a lim- ited time and then secured a clerkship in a store. At the age of seventeen, with no capital, he left the paternal fireside to take up the battle of life for himself, and in the struggle he won many a brilliant victory, triumphing over obstacles, difficulties and discouragements. About the time he left home the Delaware division of the Pennsylvania canal was being constructed from Eaton to Bristol, and, the opportunity presented, he joined the engi- neering corps and for one year was employed on that work. He was next engaged in running coal ont of the river, followed by service in a hotel in Easton, Pennsylvania. Later he was made superintendent of a division of the Pennsylvania canal, and after serving in that capacity for a year he again spent a year in boating coal. On the expiration of that period he was induced to resume the supervision of the Pennsylvania canal, which duty occupied his atten- tion for two years, when he took a contract for the construction of the Delaware & Raritan canal feeder, on the New Jersey side of the Delaware river. A year served for the completion of that task and through the following year he superintended the operation of the feeder.
Believing then that the west furnished better opportunities for ambitious and energetic young men, he traveled by steamer, flatboat and pirogue to Indiana, taking up his residence at Pern, on the 4th of July, 1835. The town was an unbroken wilderness and vast sections of this now populous and prosperous state were still in their primitive condition. Not long after his arrival Mr. Haney was given charge of a number of men engaged on the construction of the Wabash & Erie canal. In connection with that work he opened a stone quarry below Peru for John Cooper, contractor for the Peru damı. The same fall Mr. Haney took a contract for the construction of a section of the canal at Lewisburg, completing the work the following year. He then formed a partnership with Alexander Wilson and turned his atten- tion to merchandising in Lewisburg: also traded with the Indians. Three years later he purchased Mr. Wilson's interest in the store and continued the business alone, trading largely in real estate, canal script and other securities until the summer of 1851, when he left Lewisburg and took up his residence in Logansport, on the 15th of July, of that year. No resident of this city was ever more widely or favorably known throughout Indiana than Mr. 26
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Haney. The beneficial effect of his labors cannot be overestimated. In those early days before the advent of the railroad, transportation was almost entirely by water, and the construction of the canals with which he was con- nected opened up this country by opening up the markets to the hardy pio- neers who had founded homes in the midst of the western wilderness.
On arriving in Logansport, Mr. Haney opened a general mercantile establishment, but after a short time he sold out his entire stock. He then turned his attention to real estate and the discounting of moneyed obliga- tions, doing a kind of private-banking business, which he continued with marked success until his death, which occurred April 20, 1889. For several years he served as president of the Logansport branch of the Bank of the State of Indiana. He became a member of the Logansport bar soon after locat- ing in this city, but beyond a limited amount of office business never practiced law. He was a man of sound judgment and not only could plan brilliant business enterprises but had the executive ability to carry them into success- ful operation. His career was governed by the strictest regard to the ethics of commercial life and his reputation was unassailable. Whether as a con- tractor, merchant, banker or real-estate dealer, his transactions were marked by the most honorable business methods, and added to this was a uniform courtesy and gentlemanly demeanor that won him the regard and good will of all with whom he came in contact. He was one of the richest men in the state, his wealth being estimated at six hundred thousand dollars. He con- tinned the management of his extensive affairs until failing health compelled him to place his interests in the care of his son, W. E. Haney, who seems to have inherited his father's excellent business qualities.
Mr. Haney was married December 13, 1836, to Miss Louisiana Fidler, who survives him and is now, 1898, in her seventy-ninth year. They had two children, William E. and Maria Emma, but the latter died several years ago. Mr. Haney was a loving husband and an exceptionally kind parent. He was known to every man, woman and child in Logansport, and his death was a shock to the entire community. He lived an upright Christian life and was a member of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church, to the sup- port of which he contributed liberally. A true friend of the poor and needy, he extended a helping hand to all who required assistance; and although he became a wealthy man he used his wealth so wisely and well that the most envious could not begrudge him its possession. True to every trust reposed
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in him, faithful to every duty of citizenship, he was one of the honored pio- neers of the state, whose name is engraved high on the roll of her eminent representatives. At his death Judge D. P. Baldwin, one of his most inti- mate friends and associates, wrote of him:
"The late Mr. Haney was a remarkable man in many respects. This is proven by the grand fortune he accumulated in this little city where money is scarce and riches the exception. I do not hesitate to say that Mr. Haney had the best financial brain of any man that, at least in my time, ever lived! in Logansport. At seventy-nine years and until his last sickness his mind was as clear and quick as that of any man in mid life. Mr. Haney's honesty was very remarkable. No scandal was ever connected with his great fortune. His word was sacred. He took no undue advantages. He was a remarka- bly friendly man. He was as kind and sociable with a tramp as with a millionaire. He did not know what pride was any more than he knew what deceit and double dealing were. He was always clean-mouthed. No one ever heard him retailing scandal or speaking unkindness. Mr. Haney's great wealth brought upon him, as wealth or exceptional success always does, a great weight of envy and raillery, but he took it good-humoredly. No one ever knew him to get angry or excited, much less vindictive or sullen. No one knew better of good and ill of life and humanity. Mr. Haney did not pretend to be anything else than a business man, and never sought office or promotion of any kind. He did not set up to be a charitable man any more than a talented man; and yet his kindly voice, friendly ways and unquestioned honesty gave him a happy and honored old age and made him a general favorite with all classes."
W ILLIAM TILLETT, of Peru township, is a well-known pioneer of Miami county. His father, James Tillett, became a resident of this county in the fall of 1834. He was a native of Montgomery county, Virginia, and his parents were natives of London, England. James Tillett grew up in his native state of Virginia and married Susanna Buck, a native of Rockingham county, that state, and a daughter of Martin Buck. In 1828 James Tillett emigrated with his family to Wayne county, Indiana, and in 1834 came to Miami county, locating upon a new farm about four and a half miles west of Peru. Purchasing at first eighty acres, he proceeded to improve it, and sub-
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sequently he added to the tract so that at length he was the possessor of twelve or fourteen hundred acres. His death occurred in July, 1879. His wife had died five years previously. Mr. James Tillett was an industrious and energetic man and secured large possessions, was a well-known and respected citizen, a representative of the typical American, and an exem- plary member of the community. For a time he was county commissioner.
Of his thirteen children seven were living at the time of his death, and five are still living, - 1898. William, the eldest, was born in Montgomery county, Virginia, February 28, 1822, and was about twelve years of age when he came to Wayne county. He well remembers the wild condition of the country more than sixty years ago. He assisted his father in clearing the land, remaining with his parents until he was about twenty-one years old, when he was employed on a state boat on the Wabash & Erie canal, which was engaged in keeping the canal in repair, and continued in this work for nine years.
Mr. Tillett was married on the 4th of April, 1842, to Miss Elizabeth Grimes, a daughter of Reuben Grimes, and soon afterward settled on a farm in Pipe Creek township, where he lived two years, and then located where he now lives, in Peru township.
Mr. and Mrs. Tillett have four sons and three daughters, all of whom are residents of Miami county but one. Their names are William Floyd, James Reuben, Oliver Jackson, Joseph N., Mrs. R. M. Boone (the eldest), Mrs. Susanna Kunkle and Mrs. Zetilo Josephine Miller. Mr. Tillett is a well- known citizen, has been successful in business and owns a large amount of land. There are several other sons of James Tillett living, namely, Henry J., Oliver, Giles, John and Jasper.
JAMES M. WOOLLEY, now in the employ of Layman & Company has J been a resident of Howard county for more than thirty-nine years and is therefore a well known citizen.
He was born in Orange county, Indiana, July 29, 1844, a son of James and Rachel (Guthrie) Woolley; he was born on Tom's river, in New Jersey, and her birth-place was near the famous " natural bridge," in Virginia. Of their nine sons and five daughters, six are yet living, namely: Hubbard, of
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Galveston, Indiana; Franklin M., of Wallace, this state; Martin, of North Ontario, California; Sarah, now the wife of Orin Maker, of Westfield, Indi- ana; Catharine, now Mrs. John T. Hercules, of Howard county; and James M., the subject proper of this sketch.
James Woolley, the father of our subject, was a wagon-maker by trade, doing all the work without the aid of machinery. He emigrated to Hamilton county, Ohio, during the pioneer period, as did also his wife with her father's family; they were married there, and came to Indiana, settling in Orange county, where they brought up their children. From 1852 to 1858 they were residents of Parke county, Indiana, and then they removed to Howard county, locating upon a farm three and a half miles south of Kokomo, where the husband and father died in 1872, at the age of seventy-five years, a faithful member of the United Brethren church. His widow survived him until 1880, departing this life at the age of eighty years, a sincere member of the Presbyterian church.
William Guthrie, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Woolley, was a native of Ireland, had a large number of children, and died in Hamilton county, Ohio, after having attained an advanced age.
Mr. James M. Woolley obtained his school training in Orange, Parke and Howard counties, and in young manhood learned the trade of carpenter. At the age of twenty-two he left home and was employed in nurseries and at farm work. He rented a farm of fifty acres, where he followed agricultural pursuits for four years. During his early residence in Howard county, he kept a toll-gate for eighteen years, and at the same time did some work as a carpenter. He came to Kokomo in the spring of 1859, and has been a resi- dent here ever since that date; and he was engaged in the grocery business from 1880 until April, 1898, when he sold out, and has since been in his present position. He is not only a good business man, but also an affable gentleman, high-minded, public-spirited and philanthropic.
The 13th day of June, 1865, witnessed his union in matrimony with Miss Margaret O. Albright, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Snowderly) Albright. She was the youngest of thirteen children, while Mr. Woolley is the youngest of fourteen. Her parents came to Howard county about the year 1837, when the Indians were still living in this section. She was born in Euphemia, Ohio, and was but five years of age when brought to Howard county by her parents in their emigration to this state. Her father, a brick
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mason and contractor and a general mechanic, was a Methodist local preacher.
Mr. and Mrs. Woolley have had three sons and two daughters, viz .: William Clarence, who died in infancy; Clara Alice, a teacher in the Kokomo high school; Ora Ashton, who is a traveling salesman for the Indianapolis Basket Company; Annie Francis and Charles Clayborn, attending school. The parents and children are all intelligent and zealous members of the Main Street Christian church, in which society Mr. Woolley is a deacon. He also belongs to the Junior Order of American Mechanics. As to the political parties, he is an independent voter. He is a conscientious, Christian gentle- man, a zealous worker in the church, is of a quiet and retiring disposition, is highly respected throughout the community and has a host of friends.
T THEODORE R. SEWELL, police commissioner of Logansport, Indiana, and chief clerk of the master mechanic of the Pan Handle Railway Company, at this place, has resided here since January, 1883. His history is that of a self-made man, and is of interest in this connection.
Mr. Sewell was born in Dorchester county, Maryland, February 7, 1855, and passed the first twelve years of his life in the village of Vienna, that county. Then the death of his widowed mother left him without a home and he went to live with an uncle, a farmer, where, however, he was not treated in the most kindly manner. So he ran away and drifted from place to place, earning a livelihood at whatever presented itself till he was seventeen. At this age he found himself in the city of Baltimore, and there he entered the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, as a machinist apprentice, and while serving his time in this department he attended the night school of drawing and designing, completing the course by the time he reached his majority. At twenty-two he went into the service of the North- ern Central Railroad Company, as draftsman, and remained with that cor- poration till 1882. At that time he severed his connection with railroading and engaged in the produce commission business in Baltimore, but in six months' time tired of this and in January, 1883, accepted an offer of the Pan Handle Company to come to Logansport as their draftsman and chief clerk in the shops, a position he has since filled with marked ability.
Mr. Sewell's parents were Garrison and Martha (Turner) Sewell. The
Jacoby. Coff
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Sewells are of English origin and have long been residents of America, the arrival of the first representatives of the family in the New World dating about the time the Calverts landed here. Garrison Sewell was a native of Maryland and by occupation was a merchant tailor. The Turners, the maternal ancestors of our subject, have likewise been residents of this coun- try for many generations. They were of the old slave-holding families and consequently sympathizers with the secession movement of the early '60s. On this account our subject's first impressions political were formed along the line taken by the great mass of slave-owners. He believed this to be the true position and the Democratic party to be the most righteous political organization. Later, however, his researches through the records of the two great parties convinced him that his position was one inherited from a prejudiced ancestry rather than one taken as a result of conscientious inves- tigation after the truth, and he deserted Democracy and espoused Republic- anism. For this act he was ostracised by his relatives for a time and he earned the frown of disapproval from former political associates.
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