USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 16
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 16
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 16
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 16
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In 1855 Mr. Westcott was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Mitchell, a native of Warren county, Ohio, and at that time a resident of Wayne county, Indiana. They are now the parents of seven children: Alice C., wife of Omar Hollingsworth; Lucilla B., wife of J. A. Carr; Jennie M., wife of F. A. Wilke; Charles G., Burton J., Harry M. and Maude Evelyn. In 1880 Mr. Westcott purchased an entire block, bounded by Main, South A, Fourteenth and Sixteenth streets, which had already been laid out with walks and drives, and immediately began the improvement of the property. The second year he erected a large brick residence, and since then three other residences have been added, one for each son-in-law. The grounds are spacious and well kept, adorned with shrubs and flowering plants and shaded by beautiful trees. Hospitality characterizes the Westcott home, and the household is the center of a cultured society circle.
Socially, Mr. Westcott is connected with Whitewater Lodge, No. 41, I. O. O. F. Since 1849 he has held membership relations with the Methodist Episcopal church, and to all moral, educational and social interests he is a liberal contributor, doing all in his power to benefit and elevate humanity.
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He feels a personal interest in the inen in his employ and in times of sickness or trouble they find in him a faithful friend. His business career has been crowned with a well merited success. He has made good use of his oppor- tunities and has prospered from year to year, conducting all business matters carefully and systematically, and in all his acts displaying an aptitude for suc- cessful management. He has not permitted the accumulation of a fortune to affect in any way his actions toward those less fortunate than he, and has always a cheerful word and a pleasant smile for those with whom he comes in contact.
SAMUEL G. DUGDALE.
The honored subject of this memoir was at one time closely identified with the business interests of Richmond, Indiana, being one of her most prominent and influential merchants. He was very successful in his business and had lived a retired life several years previously to his death. His parents were Benjamin and Hannah (Kaighn) Dugdale, to whom he was born in Trenton, New Jersey, June 2, 1821. His mother was a native of that state, and his father came to New Jersey from Mount Melick, Ireland, and moved to Richmond in 1837, with a family of four children, of whom Samuel was the youngest. The father was a tanner by trade, but followed that business only a few years and then engaged in the drug business, first in Trenton and later in this city, and was succeeded by his sons, James, Thomas and Samuel. Mrs. Dugdale departed this life in 1842, and her husband followed her eight years later. Thomas soon retired from the business, leaving James and Sam- uel to continue it as Dugdale & Company. Some time in 1849 they dis- posed of the stock.
Samuel G. Dugdale then embarked in the confectionery, notion and wall-paper business, carrying it on until 1871. In 1879 he took up his resi- dence in the country near this city, and lived in retirement until 1892, when he was stricken with paralysis and he once more moved to Richmond, where he passed away December 28, 1897. He was quite prominent in fraternal circles. He was made an Odd Fellow in White Water Lodge, No. 41, and became a member of the Oriental Encampment in 1862; he was also a mem- ber of the grand lodge of Indiana. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Susanna Downing, sister of the late H. R. Downing, a leading undertaker of this city. Their nuptials were solemnized in 1848 and resulted in the birth of two children, George B. and Horace L., both deceased. Mr. Dugdale then led to the altar Miss Emma E. Salter, of Richmond, in 1859, and their home was blessed by the advent of a daughter, Emma L., who makes her home with her mother in Richmond.
Mrs. Dugdale is a lady of culture and refinement, and is the daughter of a physician, Dr. James W. Salter, whose name is held in affectionate remem-
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brance by the older residents in this community. He was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, January 29, 1808, and was a son of William and Han- nah (Wilson) Salter. William Salter was born in England and came to this country in 1806, locating first in Philadelphia, where he followed his trade of a printer. He was a Quaker in his religious affiliation, and founded and published "The Friend," a paper devoted to the interests of the Society of Friends. He married Hannah Wilson, of that state, where he remained but a short time, then returning to Philadelphia and resuming the publi- cation of "The Friend." His wife died in Philadelphia in 1838, and three years later he came to Richmond with his family, where he died on March Ist of the following year.
Dr. Salter entered a drug store in Philadelphia when eleven years old, and made his own way through life from that time. He became familiar with the use of drugs, and at the age of eighteen took up the study of medi- cine under Doctor Snow, of Philadelphia. In 1830 he graduated from the Jefferson Medical College and located on what was then known as "Fox Chase, " since a part of Philadelphia. He remained there two years and October 4, 1832, was united in marriage with Miss Caroline L. Pyle, of Phil- adelphia, and four years later removed to Richmond, Indiana. He was the third physician to locate here, the others being Drs. Warren and Plum- mer. He soon became very popular, and built up a large practice. In 1842 he moved onto a farm on the Elk Horn, near Richmond, and gave up a large practice, but was induced to take it up again in 1849, when the chol- era broke out, and traveled almost night and day in his endeavors to relieve the afflicted. He was untiring in his efforts, and many families had reason to bless his ministrations. About 1866 he purchased the Weekly Telegram, Richmond, which paper he edited and conducted for a few years, when he sold the property and finally retired once more from active life, his death occurring August 21, 1886, in Topeka, Kansas, where he had located two years before his death. His wife passed away May 21, 1869. Mrs. Dug- dale was one of seven children left to perpetuate his memory.
HORACE L. HURST.
Horace L. Hurst, a well known citizen residing five miles north of Con- nersville, Indiana, belongs to the third generation of the Hurst family in this state, a family whose identification with Indiana dates back to territorial days, when this country was almost an unbroken forest.
John Hurst, the grandfather of Horace L., was born in Maryland in 1781, of Irish descent, and in that state, in 1802, was married to Elizabeth Marshall. Shortly after his marriage, with his wife and his brother Benedict, he started for what was then called the Western Reserve. His wife's father
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had given her a horse. The young husband arranged a pack saddle into which he placed their worldly goods, and with his wife on the horse, he and his brother walking, they started on their journey. In this way they traveled, stopping wherever night overtook them, on the plains or in the mountains, and they continued westward until his small amount of money was exhausted, this occurring near Hamilton, Ohio. There John Hurst sought employment. About the only kind of work to be found was clearing and rail-splitting. Hard work, however, had no terrors for him. He took contracts for both himself and brother, and together they worked early and late. In 1804 his wife gave birth to a child, and two years later another child was born to them. By 1807 he had accumulated a little sum, besides having supplied the meagre wants of his little family, and that year they pushed further west, coming over into Indiana and making a permanent location in what afterward became Wayne county. He selected first an eighty-acre tract of
land on Nolan's Fork, built a rude cabin, and as soon as possible got his family comfortably located. When the land was placed on the market he entered same and, as after years showed, made a wise selection. Then he commenced in earnest the work of developing his land and making a home. Soon he had a few acres under cultivation, and never from that time on did his family want for the necessaries of life, and ere many years had come and gone he was able to provide them with some of the luxuries also. As soon as he got his land opened up he began raising corn and hogs, finding a market at Cincinnati, and later he dealt largely in stock, driving to the Cincinnati market. In his earnest efforts to make a home and accumulate a compe- tency on the frontier, Mr. Hurst was ably assisted by his good wife, who was a helpmate in the truest sense of that word. She, too, worked early and late to clothe and feed her family. In those days the spinning and weaving for the family were all done in the home. Both Mr. Hurst and his wife were noted for their hospitality and generosity, friend and stranger receiving a welcome at their door, and the needy were never turned away empty-handed. Mr. Hurst kept pace with the progress of the new settlement, or, rather, kept in advance of it, for he was always the first to give his support to any improvement or new invention. The first cooking stove in the community was bought for his house and in his parlor was placed the first ingrain carpet of the neighborhood. These "luxuries " came after the old cabin had vanished and a commodious frame house had taken its place. As the years passed by and his prosperity increased, he invested in more land, until his estate comprised two thousand acres of the best land in Wayne county. Hard work and exposure in all kinds of weather shortened his days, how- ever, and he died in May, 1838, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. His wife survived him until November 5, 1850. She had been twice married,
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her first husband, a Mr. Marshall, having died shortly after their marriage. The record of her children, all by Mr. Hurst, is as follows, the first two having been born in Ohio, the others in Indiana: Cyntha, December 8, 1804; Benedict, December 11, 1806; Bennett, December 8, 1808; Sanford, April 5, 1811; Belinda, December 7, 1812; Marshall, February 13, 1814; Isaac, February 5, 1817; Anna, born April 11, 1819, died young; Dickson, Decem- ber 7, 1821; twins, Elijah and Silva (wife of Robert Watts), October 24, 1824; and Mary E. (wife of John Orr), July 12, 1827. John Hurst, though never aspiring to political honors, was a stanch Democrat, and to this party his descendants, with few exceptions, have given their support.
Dickson Hurst, the father of Horace L., grew to manhood on his father's farm, and after his marriage settled in the same neighborhood. He cleared and improved a farm and devoted his life to carrying forward the work inau- gurated by his father. He was largely interested in the stock business, his. favorite stock being horses, and, like his father, he found a market at Cin- cinnati. He inherited the many sterling characteristics of his worthy sire and, like him, had the confidence and respect of the entire community. His act- ive and useful career was cut off in its very prime, death calling him away in 1856, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Lewis, left the farm after his death and moved to Milton, where she spent the rest of her life, her death occurring in October, 1898. She was a consistent member of the Christian church for many years. Her parents were Caleb and Mary (Willis) Lewis, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. Caleb Lewis was a son of George and Leah (Viney) Lewis, who passed their lives and died in the Old Dominion, both being representa- tives of old Virginia families. Their children were Caleb, John, Charles, Leah and Attie. Caleb Lewis came to Indiana at an early day and located at Centerville, where he clerked and taught school prior to his marriage and afterward turned his attention to farming. For a few years he farmed on a small place south of Centerville. Selling that farm, he bought a large tract of land on Green's Fork, some three hundred acres, on which he lived for over forty years, most of his children being born there, and during that long period health and prosperity were theirs and there was not a death in his family. In their declining years he and his wife retired to Milton, where both died, her death occurring August 20, 1869, while he passed away Feb- ruary 24, 1870. They were consistent members of the Christian church. Caleb Lewis was a man above the ordinary in intelligence and education and in the community in which he lived was looked upon as a leader. An ardent Republican, he was the choice of his party for a number of local positions of trust, which he filled most acceptably, and for two terms he represented his county in the Indiana state legislature. The children of Caleb and. Mary 9
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Lewis were as follows: Levi, who died in Illinois; Vashti, wife of William Drury, of Illinois; Lavina, deceased, was the wife of H. Scott; Sarah, mother of Horace L. Hurst; Mary, wife of L. Ferguson; William, who died in Illinois; Maria, wife of E. Hurst; John M., of Nebraska; Melissa, wife of J. Petty; and Minerva, wife of H. Jones. Of the above named, four are yet living, and none died under the age of twenty-seven years. Dickson Hurst and his wife were blessed with three children, viz .: Alice, the widow of Henry M. Gresh; Horace L., whose name introduces this sketch; and Mary, who died in infancy.
Horace L. Hurst was born at the homestead where he lives, December 28, 1852, and in his youth had a liberal education. After attending the Milton schools he was sent to Earlham College, and he completed his studies with a commercial course at Indianapolis. Following in the foot- steps of his father and grandfather, he is devoting his energies to agri- cultural pursuits and takes rank with the leading and representative farmers of the county. He is now in the prime of his activity and usefulness. Politically he differs with the majority of his family and since he became a voter has given his support to the Republican party. He was recently elected to the office of county commissioner, in which responsible position he is now serving, giving general satisfaction as one of the county's financiers.
Mr. Hurst was married January 8, 1878, to Miss Mary L. Commons, a native of Centerville, Indiana. Their happy union has been blessed in the birth of two children: Fred C., born February 23, 1882; and Walter G., January 1, 1884. Mrs. Hurst is a member of the Christian church. Her family history, briefly outlined, is as follows:
Isaac L. Commons, her father, is a son of David Commons, who was born in Virginia, July 18, 1800, son of Robert Commons, who came with his family to Indiana in 1812. David Commons became one of the leading pioneer farmers of Wayne county and had a prominent and influential part in public enterprises. He was one of the promoters of the National road and of the Panhandle Railroad. In connection with his farming operations, he was largely interested in the stock business, being among the first to introduce shorthorn cattle into this part of the country. For years he in all probability handled more stock than any other man in eastern Indiana. Politically, he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. His religious training was in the Quaker faith, he having a birthright in that church. By his first wife, whose maiden name was Rachel Mote, he had two sons, John and Phillip S. His first wife dying in 1827, David Commons was subsequently married to Bethana Carter, who bore him five sons and two daughters, namely: Sarah A., wife of Thomas Jordan; William, who died at the age of nineteen years; Isaac L .; Robert D., who served three years in the civil war; Joseph A .;
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Mary E., wife of Ira Izor; and Walter S., who is engaged in the creamery business at Centerville. The father of this family filled such local offices as township trustee and county commissioner, and in 1847 and 1848 was elected and served as the representative of his county in the state legislature. He died at his old homestead in 1874. Isaac L. Commons married Mary Boyd. He moved from Centerville to Milton, Indiana, and thence to Iowa, where they lived for nine years and where his daughter Mary L. was married to Mr. Hurst. He afterward lived in Anderson, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, and in 1896 moved to Evansville, Tennessee, where he now resides, engaged in small-fruit culture. The children of Isaac L. and Mary Commons were as follows: Boyd, deceased, was a railroad engineer; Mary L .; Caroline, who is now the wife of a Mr. Harbeck, resides in Chicago; Robert L., a resident of Chicago; and Dora B., at home. Mrs. Commons is a member of the Christian church. The maternal great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Hurst was James Boyd. He was a native of Scotland and came to America during the colonial period, settling first in Virginia. He was the father of six sons and two daughters, and he and one of his sons died in a Tory prison during the Revolutionary war. His son Samuel, born in South Carolina, in 1763, entered the army at the age of sixteen and came near losing his life by a Tory gun, escaping, however, with the loss of one eye. He served to the close of the war. In December, 1785, he married Isabell Higgins, a distant relative of the poet, Robert Burns. In 1788 they moved to Kentucky, where they lived until 1811, that year coming to the territory of Indiana and settling in Wayne county, where he built a rude hut of bark and limbs of trees, on Martindale creek, and at that point entered one hundred and sixty acres of land and improved a farm. Here he passed the rest of his life, and died in 1835, at the age of seventy-two years. In 1801, during the Kane revival in Kentucky, he was converted, and during the rest of his life was a minister in the New-Light church. His wife died October 31, 1852, at the age of eighty- eight years. They were the parents of ten children and all except one lived to be married and settled as farmers or farmers' wives, in Wayne county. Their names in order of birth were James, John, William, Elizabeth, Samuel, Laura, Robert, Martha, Mary, Isabell. John Boyd married Susan Scott, and they had thirteen children, among whom was Mary Boyd, who became the wife of Isaac L. Commons and the mother of Mrs. Hurst.
WILLIAM M. THOMPSON.
William M. Thompson, the subject of this memoir, and at one time the county treasurer of Wayne county, was one of the most popular and efficient financiers and officials of this section of the state. For more than thirty years he was an honored citizen of Richmond, actively interested in all
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measures advanced for the good of the people, and performed his full share in the development and improvement of the city.
A son of Montgomery and Piety (Horne) Thompson, William M. was born October 6, 1838, on a farm which his father had entered from the govern- ment, this homestead being situated east of the town of Arba, in Randolph county. Indiana. His education was acquired in the district schools of the period, and long ere he had reached his majority he had mastered all depart- ments of agriculture, under the judicious instruction of his father, who was a practical, successful farmer and a leader in local affairs. When he was twenty-one years old he was married, and for some five years subsequent to that event he carried on agricultural operations on a farm adjoining the old homestead owned by his father. Later he turned his attention to the man- agement of a general store at Bethel, Wayne county, and in 1861 he came to Richmond, which was thenceforth to be his home. Here he went into the grocery business with George W. Barnes, and continued with him for some six or seven years. Then, buying an interest in a grocery, the business was conducted for five years under the firm name of Thompson & Good, at the end of which period the senior member retired and embarked in the same kind of enterprise on his own account. He 'continued actively engaged in business until 1892, when he sold out and retired from the field of commerce.
One of the most noticeable characteristics of Mr. Thompson from his youth was the readiness with which he won friends. He possessed that rare sympathy and sincerity, that genuine kindliness of heart and manly courtesy of manner which never fail to attract. Doubtless these traits accounted largely for his popularity and prosperity in business and as a public official. From his twenty-first year he was zealous in the Republican party, and was sent as a delegate to numberless district, county and state conven- tions. In 1876 he received the nomination for the county treasurership, and, having been duly elected, he entered upon the duties of the office in October of that year. Accurate and methodical in his work, he won the commenda- tion of all concerned, and, when he was again placed in nomination, upon the expiration of his first term, he was elected with little opposition, and con- tinued to give general satisfaction while he was in office.
On the 2d of February, 1859, Mr. Thompson married Miss Lucinda Vannuys, of Bethel, Indiana, and for over thirty-five years they harmoni- ously pursued life's journey together. Two children were born to them, a son and a daughter : Charles V., now a resident of Chicago ; and Rosa, wife of Theodore H. Hill, a member of the well known Richmond firm of Louck & Hill, proprietors of the Richmond planing-mill. The death of Mr. Thomp- son occurred at his pleasant home on North Thirteenth street, Richmond, October 17, 1894. His loss has been deeply mourned in this community,
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and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of scores of his old friends and associates, to whose interests he was ever faithful, sacrificing his own rather than theirs.
JOHN F. KIBBEY.
The name of Judge Kibbey is enduringly inscribed on the pages of Indiana's history in connection with the records of her jurisprudence. After many years of activity in the legal profession, however, he is now living retired at his pleasant home in Richmond. His superior ability won him marked success; he was crowned with high judicial honors; and in business and private life he won that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches. He is one of the native sons of Wayne county, his birth having occurred May 4, 1826, his parents being John Crane and Mary (Espy) Kibbey. The Kibbey family is of Welsh extraction, and was founded in America about 1700, the original American ancestors locating midway between Trenton and Newark, New Jersey. There Ephraim Kibbey, the grandfather of the Judge, was born and reared. In 1777 he enlisted as a private in Captain Jacob Martin's company, Fourth Battalion New Jersey Continental line, and served during the continuance of the Revolutionary war. He then returned to New Jersey, where he remained until his removal to Ohio. He was a surveyor, and in that capacity started westward with a party of emigrants. They located on the Ohio river, just below the mouth of the Little Miama river, on a tract of land known as the Symmes Purchase, and there founded the town of Columbia. Mr. Kibbey assisted in the sur- vey of that tract of land. On the Ist of January, 1790, General St. Clair arrived in Columbia and on the following day appointed Ephraim Kibbey an ensign in the army. The latter also commanded a company under General Wayne, known as " Mad Anthony " by reason of his great daring in battle. He served with the rank of major. He died in 1807. His wife was, before her marriage, a Miss Crane, and to them were born six children, three sons and three daughters.
To this family belonged John Crane Kibbey, who was born in New Jersey, March 17, 1783, and in 1788 was taken by his parents to Columbia, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood. He acquired his education under the direction of his father, who had been a teacher in early manhood, and pursued his studies at night in books borrowed from Governor Morrow, of Ohio. With his uncle, Mr. Crane, he learned. the tanner's and currier's trade, and at the time of his marriage was the owner of a half-section of land in Warren county, Ohio. In 1812 he purchased seven hundred acres of land near Salisbury, Wayne county, Indiana, and one hundred and sixty acres two miles west of that place, and the following year removed to Salis- bury, then the county-seat. He established a tan yard, and for some years
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was prominently connected with the business and public life of the commu- nity. In 1814 he was appointed justice of the peace and did a large business in the justice court. In the early '20s he came to Richmond, then a mere hamlet. Here he continued to serve as justice of the peace, and also built and conducted a tavern in the town. He soon relinquished that business, however, but for some years continued to hold the office of justice of the peace, and owned large property interests in Richmond, Salisbury and Wayne county. He was a Democrat of the old school and cast his first presidential vote for Jefferson, in 1804. He continued to support the Democracy until 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed, and he left the party. In 1850 he removed to Illinois, where he died in 1856, the year of the inception of the Republican party, whose principles and faith he endorsed. He married Miss Mary Espy and to them were born ten children, nine daughters and a son.
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