USA > Indiana > Miami County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 51
USA > Indiana > Howard County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 51
USA > Indiana > Cass County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 51
USA > Indiana > Tipton County > Biographical and genealogical history of Cass, Miami, Howard and Tipton counties, Indiana > Part 51
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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
The parents of Mrs. Nash were born in Ohio, and her maternal grand- parents, William and Elizabeth (Smith) Buick, were natives of Scotland and were early settlers in Greene county, Ohio, where they died. When Mrs. Nash was about two years of age her mother died, but her father is still liv- ing, and is now a resident of Tipton county, Indiana.
In politics our subject is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests in which he has met with gratifying and well deserved success.
S G. DOWNING, M. D .- The village of Hobbs is fortunate.in having the professional services of a well qualified physician like Dr. Downing. He was born April 29, 1846, in Logan county, Ohio, brought up on a farm and educated at the common schools. The family to which he belonged changed their residence to Delaware county, Indiana, and when he had attained the age of seventeen years, in 1863, he enlisted in the army for the Union, con- necting himself with the Seventh Indiana Cavalry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and he served to the close of the war, being engaged in some of the noted battles and in many skirmishes, but was never wounded or captured. He was finally mustered out at Austin, Texas, and honorably discharged and paid off at Indianapolis in February, 1866.
Returning home he resumed agricultural pursuits for a few years, attending school in the winter time, and in 1870 was married. In the study of medicine he commenced under the instructions of Dr. Mckinney, and afterward under Dr. M. T. Carter, and in 1878-9 attended the Indiana Med-
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ical College. He opened out in practice in company with Dr. Carter, his former preceptor, and later attended lectures again at the same college, where he graduated in 1883. Then he located first at Oakwood, next at Riverside, and in 1885 at Hobbs, where he has since remained, devoting his attention zealously to his profession, in which he has a good patronage, which he well merits.
In matrimony his first union was with Miss Henrietta Cooper, of Illinois, an intelligent lady who was the daughter of Samuel Cooper, formerly of Indiana and now of Vermilion county, Illinois, and a farmer by occupation. His children are Lucinda, the wife of John Waldron; Mary, now Mrs. Bur- ton; and Henrietta, who married Dr. Downing. By his first marriage, Dr. Downing's children were: Franklin, now in Illinois; Thomas, at Hobbs; Mary, now Mrs. G. Leason; and Cory, unmarried. Mrs. Henrietta Down- ing departed this life in June, 1890, a sincere and consistent member of the Methodist church; and in 1892 the Doctor united in marriage with Miss Lucetta Hobbs, a lady of fine intellect and disposition and a daughter of G. H. Hobbs, of Tipton county and a Virginian by birth. His children are: Lucetta, just mentioned, Arminta, Darthuda, Sherman, John S., Ellen, Ida and Maud. Mrs. Downing is a member of the Christian church. By the present marriage the Doctor has one child, born in August, 1893, and named Mabel.
Dr. Downing is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in politics a Republican.
Now, concerning the Doctor's parentage, we may add that his father; Israel Downing, was a native of Virginia, who married Elizabeth Rector, a native of Ohio. The father was of Irish descent and the mother of German extraction. The Doctor's paternal grandfather served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and afterward settled in Virginia, where he passed the remainder of his life. Israel Downing was reared in Virginia, emigrated to- Ohio when a young man, married there, followed farming and at length moved to Delaware county, Indiana, where he became a prominent citizen and passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1856. His wife died in Illi- nois, in 1872. Both were intelligent and enthusiastic members of the Meth- odist church. Their children were Daniel, a fariner; Jonathan, now a physician practicing at Yorktown, Delaware county, Indiana; and S. G., the subject of the foregoing sketch.
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C APTAIN EDWIN R. W. TRUAX, a loyal soldier of the Civil war and a prominent and enterprising farmer of Howard county, living near Cassville, is a native of the Buckeye state, born in Preble county, December 3, 1841, reared to farm work and habits of industry and economy, and edu- cated at the common school. Such a beginning in life, especially when made by one who has inherited talent and a good disposition, is almost sure to lead to prominence in some good sense of the word-not a " proud pre- eminence" or one in political life particularly, but to that lofty plane occu- pied by our best citizens. Once a layman asked the editor of the North- western Christian Advocate in Chicago who he thought was the greatest man that ever lived. The editor replied that there were several men in the polit- ical history of the world for whom the term " greatest " might be claimed; but that the man who was " greatest" in the sight of God might have been an obscure shoe cobbler in a remote ravine in the Alps mountains who was scarcely known to even his own neighbors.
David and Sarah (Lewellen) Truax, the Captain's parents, were natives of Kentucky, and were married in Preble county, Ohio. David Truax's father, also named David, was a native of the Old Dominion, Virginia, who emigrated to the Blue-grass state in the early stage of the settlement of that 'commonwealth, and subsequently to Ohio, where he passed the remainder of his days. By occupation he was a farmer, in politics a Whig, and in religion a Presbyterian. Mr. David Truax, the Captain's father, was reared to man- hood in Ohio, where he married and settled upon a farm. In 1848 he sold his place and emigrated to Howard county, Indiana, where he purchased two eighty-acre tracts of land and entered two or three other tracts of the same area. Each of these had upon it a log house, and on the place he bought there were fifteen acres cleared. Before he was in condition, however, to meet any calamity, his house and everything therein were consumed by fire. This was on the 4th of July. It was supposed by many, but not by Mr. Truax, that the house was set on fire by Indians, many of whom were still in the country. Mr. Truax had only fifty cents left and his credit with which to begin anew. His neighbors-and neighbors in that day were "neighbors " indeed -- rallied to his aid and he soon had another house erected, this time a double log structure. With zeal, energy and hope ( " hope, like a cordial, innocent though strong, inspirits and serenes "), Mr. Truax set to work and soon was a leading farmer in the community, cultivating the
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largest area of all. During his life he succeeded in reducing to a fine state of cultivation one hundred acres of good land. He continued to reside in the double log house mentioned, built a good barn and gave farming his attention, with the success that crowns such qualities as we have named. For grists he was obliged to go on horseback to Logansport, a distance of twenty-five miles.
In politics he was a Whig, and in religion both himself and wife were zealous and efficient workers in the Disciple church, but in the evening of his life he adopted the belief of that branch of the Universalists called " Restorationists." His wife was a native of Kentucky, and her father and family emigrated from that state to Ohio, where both passed the remainder of their lives. David Truax died November . 5, 1876, and his wife March 25, 1889. Their children were: William, who died young; James M., who was a soldier in the great war of the Rebellion; Delila, who is now Mrs. J. I. Martindale; Dennis, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Mary A., now Mrs. J. Dixon; Andrew M., who also served in the last war; and Edwin R. James M. and Andrew M. demonstrated their patriotism by enlist- ing in the army for the government and the Union, joining Company F, Eighty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. They were both subsequently cap- tured at the battle of Munfordville; being soon exchanged, however, they took the field again at the front. Three of their uncles-Nathan, John and Samuel Truax-served in the war of 1812; an uncle on their mother's side, William McIlwain, served in the war of the late Rebellion; and their paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Captain Truax enlisted as a private in the late war at the age of twenty years, at Kokomo, November 28, 1863, in Company A, One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which formed a part of General Har- vey's division in the Twenty-third Army Corps. He soon received a promo- tion to the position of orderly sergeant, later commissioned as second lieu- tenant and afterward first lieutenant and acting captain. For four months, however, during his service in 1864, he was confined to the hospital by sick- ness. returning to the field in August. December 2, 1865, he received an honorable discharge, at Charlotte, North Carolina, and was mustered out at Indianapolis. He participated in the battles of Buzzards' Roost, Snake ·Creek Gap, Resaca, in front of Atlanta, Plaquemine, Lovejoy Station, John- sonville, Nashville and Kingston. In commemoration of the great and noble
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object of the war he is now a zealous member of Thomas Harrison Post, No. 30, Grand Army of the Republic.
Returning from the field of carnage to the arts of peace, he continued with his father, assisting him in the duties of the farm. In 187 t he married, and settled on the homestead and continued his labors there. After the death of his parents he bought the homestead from the other heirs, and there he still resides. He has cleared additional land, remodeled the prem- ises, erected a commodious house and barn, etc. He has also dealt in live stock to some extent and done some shipping. As an enterprising farmer his work has been conspicuous, and as a citizen his record has been worthy. In his politics he is a strong and uncompromising Republican, active in campaign work and influential in the councils of his party. He has filled the offices of township trustee, etc., but he neither expects nor desires any public office as a reward for his services.
In matrimony he was united with Miss Sallie E. McIlwain, who was born in Fayette county, Indiana, September 1, 1842, and is a member of an honored pioneer family of Miami county, this state, who came hither from North Carolina, improved a farm and made a permanent home in Miami county, and there Mr. McIlwain finally died, in 1895, at the age of eighty- five years; his wife had died, in 1866, a pious and exemplary member of the church of the United Brethren in Christ. Mr. McIlvain was a Universalist in his religious belief, and was an upright man in all his ways. Their chil- dren were William, Theodore, George, Sallie E. (Mrs. Truax), Lydia, Mollie and John. The four yet living are the four youngest. Captain Truax's children are: Lena B., the wife of Rev. Edmond Shumaker, a Methodist minister at Plainfield; Blanche M., unmarried; Frank P., attend- ing school at Marion; and Maud M., who died October 23, 1894, at the age of fifteen years. The Captain has given all his children a good education. They are all, both parents and children, sincere and consistent members of the 'Methodist church.
JUDGE JAMES M. BROWN. - The honored subject of this sketch was born - October 16, 1826, in Union county, Indiana, where he passed his minority in the duties of farm life, receiving his education in the common schools, sup- plemented by some fifteen months of an academical training. His father, 33
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Walter Brown, was a native of Ohio and of English descent; and his mother, Keziah (Laboyteaux) Brown, was of French descent and a native of New Jersey. In 1848 he was united in marriage with Miss Emily Caroline Willis, and during the succeeding six years he was engaged principally in teaching, during which time he was also preparing himself for the profession in which he afterward so long and faithfully labored and so well adorned. From 1854 to October, 1855, he pursued his legal studies in the office of Hon. Nelson Trusler at Connersville, Indiana, at the end of which time he was admitted to the bar and immediately thereafter moved to Peru, where he entered upon the practice of law, in which he continued till his death, with the exception of an interval of about twenty-one months, when he occupied the bench of the Miami circuit court.
At different periods of his life he was associated, in his profession, respectively with Orris Blake, Hon. James N. Tyner, and Hon. N. N. Antrim, of this place. In the spring of 1868 he became an equal partner with Hon. G. I. Reed in the Peru Republican, with which he was connected for about two and a half years,-the first year actively, but continued his law practice in connection with his newspaper work.
In the spring of 1860 he was elected mayor of Peru, which office he occupied for four consecutive terms; afterward he served in the capacity of school trustee, city engineer, member of the common council, city attorney and judge of the Miami circuit court. As judge he was careful, conscien- tious and industrious, and administered his duties in an able and impartial manner, which won for him the respect and admiration of both lawyers and litigants. He was essentially a self-made man, and his numerous calls to responsible public positions testify to the esteem in which he was held by the citizens of Peru and to their appreciation of the ability and integrity with which he discharged the duties of his trust. He always took a deep interest in the welfare of the city and county, and never failed to contribute time, means and advice to any movement for the promotion of their interests.
In his domestic life he was a devoted husband, an affectionate parent, and was indomitable in his efforts to render his home congenial to his family and friends. He was an untiring student of biblical literature, and was as familiar with his bible as with his law books. With an abiding faith in a supreme being, he espoused a practical religion which demanded that faith be shown by works. The predominant feature of his character was his abso-
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lute honesty. During the forty-three years in which he was engaged in the practice of his profession his honesty was never known to be questioned. His ability as a lawyer was recognized by the members of the profession. Those who knew him most intimately best appreciated his affable manner, his genial disposition, his purity of mind and his almost inexhaustible supply of universal knowledge. In contemplating his many virtues one feels con- strained to say with Mark Anthony: "His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, This was a man."
The surviving members of the family of Judge Brown are his widow, a son and a daughter. Mrs. Brown was born in Preble county, Ohio, October 17, 1826, being but one day younger than her husband. The only daughter is Mary, the wife of Augustus W. Brockett, of Peru, and has two children, - Lucien Brown and James Monroe.
Benjamin Franklin Brown, the only son of Judge Brown, was born in Preble county, Ohio, April 30, 1851, was a small child when the family moved to Peru, and was educated in the schools of the city and learned the trade of carpenter. He was married September 26, 1878, to Miss Melissa Murphy, a native of Richland township, Miami county, and a daughter of Jesse Murphy, who was a pioneer of that township and whose death occurred at the old homestead in October, 1889, where he had lived for about forty-five years. The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Brown was Rebecca Ann Mendenhall. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have a son, named Charles Monroe, who was born April 5, 1881.
W TILLIAM THOMAS GIFFE .- Logansport has been specially favored of late years in its resident musical talent. Among those who have long been distinguished members of her local musical circle the gentleman of whom this sketch is written is numbered. As author of many music books he is known from sea to sea; many of his choruses, male quartets, Sunday- school songs and anthems are very familiar to this generation and great favorites with musical people. For years he was a prominent teacher and conductor of musical conventions and has always taken an active interest in the advance of music in the school, the home and the church. He was the
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principal originator and promoter of the Indiana State Music Teachers' Asso- ciation, and has filled all its offices. As a musical authority he is highly recognized by musical people all over this country.
Both grandfathers of our subject were officers in the English army. His father, William Giffe, was a native of Ireland, born of Scotch-Irish par- ents. He married, in the Emerald Isle, Deborah Hughes, a native of Scot- land, and together they came to America in the latter part of the '40s, set- tling in Portland, Jay county, Indiana, where the subject of our sketch was born, June 28, 1848. Shortly after the birth of the son they moved into the woods, where as pioneers they cleared a farm and won the esteem and gen- uine respect of all with whom they had dealings, whether in a business or social way.
William Thomas Giffe was reared to agricultural pursuits. His educa- tion was gained in the neighborhood schools and a local academy. He was but sixteen when he laid aside his books in obedience to his sturdy pat- riotism and enlisted in defense of the Union. He served as a member of Company B, Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry, from September 20, 1864, to September, 1865, when he was honorably discharged, on account of the close of the war, at which time he was still eight months under the required legal age for entering the army.
Returning home, he resumed his interrupted studies, and spent the next three years in Liber College, Portland, Indiana. Meantime he also taught school to some extent, and afterward was the principal of the Portland schools for two years. This position he resigned in order to devote his whole attention to the study of law, but, finding that his inclinations were not in this direction, and that all of his tendencies pointed toward a musical career, he concluded to give up all else for his favorite vocation. Long and diligently he applied himself to mastering the art, having some of the most able instructors of the time in this secton of the United States, among them Messrs. Suffern, Emerson, Perkins, Root, Tomlins, and others of no less fame.
From 1875 to 1879 Mr. Giffe was a resident of Indianapolis, but since the last mentioned year he has made his home in Logansport. For six years after his arrival here he held the position of supervisor of music in the public schools of the city. For the past thirteen or fourteen years he has given part of his attention to the composition of music; has brought out several
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books of anthems and composed a number of popular quartets for male voices, all this being done aside from the time necessarily given to the management of his book and music store and other business affairs. Encouraged by the success which attended his efforts, he published a text-book on harmony and composition, for the use of teachers and students of music, which has been largely adopted in this country and abroad and has become a standard work. Perhaps the two most popular Sunday-school song-books emanating from his brain are those entitled Crown of Gold and Glory Bells. Of the singing- school and convention music books the following by him are well known: The Wonder, New Favorite and the Song Clarion. Mr. Giffe is also the author of the Vocal Drill Book and the New Ideal, both designed for public schools; The Western Anthem Book; Giffe's Choir Gems and Anthem Volun- tary, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and Giffe's Easy Anthem Book. In sheet music the Bonny Bird, Waves of Ocean (a bass solo), the Soldiers' Chorus (a description of a battle-scene), Dreaming of the Old Home, and his musical setting for the grand old hymn, Rock of Ages, are all deservedly praised and esteemed by the public, as are also many others of his compositions.
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In 1891 the Home Music Company of Logansport was organized, with Mr. Giffe as its president. He has served in that capacity ever since and has made a success of the enterprise. The company publishes the Home Music Journal, a monthly magazine, which in August, 1898, was changed to the Choir Music Journal. It is very popular with American choirs and has for its contributors many of the leading musical composers of this country. From 1887 to 1896 Mr. Giffe was the proprietor of a book and music store in Logansport, and bears an enviable reputation for honorable, straightfor- ward dealings with all.
Fraternally, he is a member of Logan Post, No. 14, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Knights of Pythias. In political affairs he is always and unequivocally a Republican, and is at this writing a member of the com- mon council of the city of Logansport. For years he has been a valued member of the First Presbyterian church of this city. In 1889 Mr. Giffe married Miss Nannie J. Booth, and he is especially fortunate in having for a wife a lady of excellent musical taste and one who is an artist in painting and decorating. Mrs. Giffe is amiable at all times and an accomplished house- keeper, beloved by all who know her, and is, as Mr. Giffe often calls her, "a part of the salt of the earth." Mr. and Mrs. Giffe have no children besides
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an adopted daughter. They live happily in a beautiful and modernly appointed home in a very choice location, and always have a warm welcome for their countless friends.
DeHart Booth, father of Mrs. Giffe, deserves special notice in this vol- ume, which reserves a place for the pioneers and representative citizens of Cass county. He assisted in clearing away the wilderness where the thriv- ing city of Logansport now stands, during his residence of ten years here; and after he removed farther into the country he continued the labor which has resulted largely in our present prosperity and advanced state of civiliza- tion. He possessed that fearless independence and honest, well-grounded con- viction of right and duty that were among the chief characteristics of Amer- ican pioneers. Born in Randolph county, West Virginia, August 15, 1809, Mr. Booth was a son of William and Deborah Booth. In 1828 the young man came to the wilds of Cass county, and in 1832 married here Nancy, daughter of David and Eunice Caldwell. She was born in Harrison county, West Virginia, July 22, 1815, and accompanied her widowed mother to this county in 1832. After ten years spent in Logansport, Mr. Booth and his faithful helpmate settled upon a farm to the north of the city. Beginning their life together with limited means, they became well-to-do by honest, industrious toil, and reared a family of eleven children to be useful citizens. First a Whig and later a Republican, Mr. Booth was content to keep out of public life, merely meeting such requirements as fell upon him as a true patriot. He was called to his reward February 21, 1888. His widow sur- vives him, being now in her eighty-third year, and making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Giffe. Their married life was a very happy one, extending over fifty-six years, and in 1882 they celebrated their golden-wedding anni- versary. Soon after their marriage they joined the Methodist Episcopal church, and their lives have been lovely examples of the faith they have professed.
JOHN DAVIS, a prominent farmer of Clay township, Howard county, was J born in Decatur county, this state, October 1, 1831, reared to honest toil as a farmer, and educated at the public school. Of his ancestry we may state first that his grandfather, Jesse Davis, was a faithful soldier in our Revolutionary war and afterward drew a pension for his service. On both
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sides in the ancestral line have the families been loyal citizens. Jesse Davis died in Kentucky at the advanced age of one hundred and six years. John Davis' parents were Jesse and Rachel (Moore) Davis, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Kentucky. Her father, John Moore, a native of Pennsylvania, moved to Kentucky during the early settlement of that state and later to Indiana, was a farmer and died while residing in Shelby county, this state. Jesse Davis moved to Missouri in 1858, was also a farmer and stock-raiser, and died there. His wife died in Shelby county, Indiana. Both were members of the "Separate " Baptist church, and pious people.
John Davis, the eldest child, was twelve years old when his mother died. The other children were: James A., now living in Missouri; Elizabeth, who died young; Hetty, yet single; Matthew, residing in Illinois; Benjamin, who died at Helena, Arkansas, while serving in the Civil war; and Thomas J., who died young. When fifteen years old John left home and began the struggle of life for himself in a world of competition and selfishness. First he was employed as a farm hand; then he learned the trade of framing buildings; in 1853 he married, leased land in Shelby county, Indiana, cleared and improved it and followed agricultural pursuits; later he bought the land and remained there till 1865, when he sold out and came to Howard county, pur- chasing unimproved land, which in turn he sold and bought another place in this county, with small improvements, which he advanced a degree further, and this again he exchanged for other land, also in this county. He is now settled on a farm on section 14, three miles northwest of Kokomo. Alto- gether, we can say that Mr. Davis has done a great amount of clearing land and made many improvements. It is to such men as he that the material development of this great west is due. Politically he is a Republican, taking an interest in all public affairs, filling a number of minor offices, participating in nominating conventions, etc.
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