USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
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After spending one year upon his father's farm in Union county, Mr. Ridge came to Fayette county, and during the following year was engaged in farming in Jennings township. In 1873 he removed to a farın in the eastern part of the county, on which he continued to reside until taking charge of the. poor asylum March 10, 1875. For four years he held that position and then removed to Connersville, where he has since made his home, doing various things for a living. He was a member of the police force of the city for four years, and in 1894 was elected county recorder of Fayette county, the duties of which office he assumed in October of 1896. So creditably did he fill the position that he was re-elected in 1898 for another four-years term and is the present incumbent. He is a stanch Republican in politics and when first nominated there were seven candidates in the field, but he was renominated without opposition, a fact which plainly testifies to his popularity and efficient service.
In 1873 Mr. Ridge wedded Miss Mary A. Hensley, of Connersville, and to them has been born one son, Albert C., who is now connected with the Connersville Furniture Company. Mr. Ridge is an earnest and consistent Christian gentleman, a member of the Baptist church prior to the civil war, but is now a Methodist. Socially, he is a member of Connersville Post, No. 126, G. A. R. Although he received but eighteen months' schooling, he is a remarkably well-informed man, being a great reader and close observer of men and events. He also possessed a wonderfully retentive memory and has given special attention to the study of history, not only of this country but
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also of foreign lands. His parents, too, had good memories. Wherever known Mr. Ridge is held in high regard, and those who know him best are numbered among his warmest friends.
FRANCIS T. ROOTS.
The true measure of individual success is determined by what one has accomplished, and, as taken in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, there is a particular interest attaching to the career of the subject of this review, since he is a native son of this place where his entire life has been passed and has so- directed his ability and efforts as to gain recognition as one of the represent- ative citizens of Fayette county. An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and public recognition for themselves, and at the same time have honored the state, to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to make a prominent reference to the one whose name initiates this paragraph. He is connected with the financial interests of Connersville, with its manufacturing and mercantile affairs, and at the same time is representing his district in the law-making body of the state, where he has acquitted himself most ably, reflecting credit upon his district. He also belongs to a family whose name is indelibly inscribed on the pages of his country's history.
Francis T. Roots was born in Connersville, July 17, 1857, his father being Philander H. Roots, who for many years was one of the most active and enterprising business men of the Whitewater valley. The family is of English origin and was founded in America at an early day by ancestors who sought in the New World the freedom from persecution which they experi- enced in the Old World. About 1846 Philander H. Roots removed from his old home in Oxford, Ohio, to Connersville, and here established and operated the woolen mills which for a long time flourished in this locality. In addition to excellent business qualifications he possessed considerable mechanical ingenuity, and when the water-wheel in the mill wore out he endeavored to replace it by one of his own invention which in its operation suggested and led to the invention of the Roots' rotary blower, which is now in use through- out the world and won him international fame. In this work, as, in fact, throughout his business career, he was actively associated with his brother, Francis M., and they at length produced the rotary blower now universally used in foundries, and established a manufactory for placing it upon the market. Many valuable inventions and improvements were added to the force blower from time to time, and the business grew to enormous propor- tions, returning to the owners a princely fortune. The foundry is still conducted under the name of The P. H. & F. M. Roots Company and is the 11
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largest concern of the kind in the world. A number of first premiums have been awarded the rotary blower at international expositions,-at Paris in 1867, at Vienna in 1873, at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. In addition to his connection with the extensive foundry, P. H. Roots was one of the charter members of the Connersville Hydraulic Company and served as its president from 1865 until his death in 1879. He was also a charter member of the First National Bank and its president from 1872 until 1879. One of the founders of the Second Presbyterian church, he took a very active part in its work, and was trustee and elder up to the time of his demise.
Francis T. Roots, his son, and one of the most capable business men of Connersville, attended the public schools of the city and later entered Chick- ering Institute, at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was graduated with honor, winning two gold medals for proficiency in scholarship, one for mathematics and the other for sciences. His literary education completed, he began read- ing law under the direction of the law firm of Snow & Kumler, of Cincinnati, and completed his legal and business training just prior to the death of his father, in 1879. He has never practiced law, but his legal knowledge has proved of great benefit to him in the management of his extensive business interests. He was engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe trade when elected vice-president of the First National Bank of Connersville, at the age of twenty-two years, continuing in that position until 1892, when he was chosen for the presidency. His able administration of the affairs of the bank was manifested in its prosperous career. The safe and commendable policy which has followed insured it a liberal patronage, and throughout this section of the state it has long been regarded as one of the most reliable and sub- stantial banking institutions in Indiana. Mr. Roots is a man of resourceful business ability and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, so that his connection with any enterprise is an assurance that the desired outcome will be attained. He has been the treasurer of The P. H. & F. M. Roots Company, and is now president of the Connersville Hydraulic Company, and has an interest in the Natural Gas Company, in the Mount, Roots & Burrows Company and other manufactories. He also possesses considerable inventive genius and owns valuable letters patent, chief among which is his triple-sign patent, in which he retains an interest.
The history of the triple-sign patent is one of intense interest. The inventor, Theo. Heinemann, an old friend and school-mate of Mr. Roots, had made several attempts to interest others in his invention; but, they fail- ing, he came to his old friend, Mr. Roots, and presented the matter to him, and promptly Mr. Roots formed a co-partnership with Mr. Heinemann for the manufacture of the signs. Their success has been marvelous, they hav-
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ing made over one hundred thousand dollars' worth on an investment of less than ten thousand dollars. The signs are used in all parts of the world, hav- ing one order from one firm in Liverpool of nearly one hundred thousand dollars, and future prospects are very bright. The triple sign is a sign which can be read from three points of view, and changes reading as the position of the reader changes.
Mr. Roots takes a deep interest in political affairs, and is a recognized leader in the ranks of the Republican party. There is an obligation of citi- zenship resting upon every individual which too many of our business men disregard, but Mr. Roots, with a full appreciation of his duty and a patriotic love for his country, keeps well informed on the issues affecting the weal or woe of the nation, and gives an earnest support to all measures which he believes for the public good. In sympathy with the principles of the " grand old party," he has served as chairman of the sixth district of the Lincoln League of the state of Indiana, and was also elected to the convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1892. He served twice as vice-president of the Indiana State Board of Commerce; was chairman of the convention that framed the call for the first monetary convention held at Indianapolis in 1896, and has been a delegate to each of the conventions since that time. In 1896 he was elected to the state legislature to represent the counties of Fayette and Henry, receiving a larger majority of votes than any other candidate on the ticket. In 1898 he was again elected by a large majority to represent the counties of Fayette and Wayne, and was appointed by the governor chairman of the state appropriations committee for the legislature of 1899, which had much to do with the recommendation of the expenditure of nearly three millions of dollars for the penal, benevolent and educational institu- tions of the state. He was also the author of the bill which provided for the appointment of the commission on state appropriations of 1897, of which he was chairman, as herein above referred to, and he has had the honor of nominating two United States senators, Fairbanks and Beveridge, an honor seldom accorded a state legislator. His name is now mentioned in connec- tion with the office of lieutenant-governor of the state.
In 1880 was celebrated the marriage of Francis T. Roots and Miss Sallie M. Heilman, daughter of Hon. William Heilman, ex-congressman, of Evans- ville, Indiana. They now have one son, Clarence S. Their beautiful home is one of the finest residences in Connersville, and its furnishings are all that wealth can procure and a refined taste suggest. Quaint literature, choice statuary and valuable paintings and pictures add to the attractiveness of the home, which is at all times pervaded with an air of hospitality that makes it the center of a cultured society circle. Mr. Roots and his wife hold member- ship in the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as elder and trustee,
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and every measure or movement intended to promote the welfare of Conners- ville receives his hearty indorsement and co-operation. He is regarded as one of the ablest financiers of the state, as a patriotic citizen, and is public- spirited in an eminent degree. In all the relations of life he has always been faithful and true, and in his life-work, eventful and varied as it has been, no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil-doing darkens his honored pathway.
JOSEPH C. RATLIFF.
The life history of him whose name heads this sketch is closely identified with the history of Wayne county, which has been his home for more than three-score years and ten. He began his remarkable career in the early pio- neer epoch of the county, and throughout the years which have since come and gone has been closely allied with its interests and upbuilding. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of suc- cess attained by comparatively few men. He is of the highest type of busi- ness man, and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among those whose enterprise and abilities have achieved results that awaken the wonder and admiration of those who know them.
Joseph C. Ratliff was born in Wayne township, near the city of Rich- mond, on the 6th of July, 1827, being a son of Cornelius and Mary (Kindley) Ratliff. On the maternal side he is of German lineage, and on the paternal side is of English descent. Tradition says that his remote ancestors lived in the north of England near what is known, even to-day, as the Red Cliffs. One of the family became a member of parliament and was known as Red- cliff, which name, in the course of time, was changed to Radcliffe, the pres- ent English spelling. The great-great-grandfather of our subject was James Ratliff, a native of England, who, according to tradition, came to America with William Penn and was present at the signing of the treaty made with the Indians under the famous old elm tree that stood on the site of the pres- ent city of Philadelphia. He was a prominent member of the Society of Friends, with which organization his family had been identified from the beginning.
Joseph Ratliff, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born in North Carolina, and married Mary Fletcher, by whom he had four sons, -one of whom removed to Pennsylvania, another remained in North Carolina, a third came west, and the grandfather of our subject became a resident of Indiana in 1810. He made the journey westward with his family and spent his remaining days in Wayne county, where he died in 1828 at the age of seven- ty-four years. He was a very prominent and influential member of the Society of Friends, and was one of the committee that opened the New Gar-
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den quarterly meeting of Friends in 1811. He married Elizabeth Charles, and had a family of six daughters and two sons.
Cornelius Ratliff, the younger son, was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, December 25, 1798, and in 1810 came with his father to the terri- tory of Indiana, locating on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, a half mile northwest of Richmond. His father secured that land by obtaining a patent from the government and paying a dollar and a quarter per acre. It had been entered by another man, but had not been improved to any extent. Indians were far more numerous in the neighborhood than white settlers, and the district was an unbroken wilderness of heavy timber. This was six years before the city of Richmond was laid out and six years before Indiana was admitted to the Union. In all the hardships and trials of frontier life which fell to the lot of the family Cornelius Ratliff shared, and in the arduous task of developing a new farm he bore his part. He was only twelve years of age at the time of the arrival of the family in Wayne county, and on the old homestead he was reared, and there also spent his mature years, inheriting the property upon his father's death. Owing to the new condition of the country his educational privileges were necessarily limited, but he became an extensive reader and thus gained a broad fund of knowledge. His favorite volumes were Paradise Lost, Young's Night Thoughts and Cowper's Task. Of the writings of the prophet Isaiah, he was also very fond, because of their sublime and poetic nature. Later in life much of his leisure was spent in reading religious books and papers, and he alse kept well informed on the issues and questions of the day.
He made farming his life occupation and as early as 1822 established a nursery, the first one in this part of the country. His catalogue embraced nearly all the known varieties of fruit of his day, and it was with great joy that he secured a new variety to add to his stock. He continued in the nur- sery business, in connection with his farming operations, for thirty-two years, and no man in the county was more entitled to honor and respect for his honesty and integrity in business. He was married June 12, 1822, to Mary Kindley, of Waynesville, Ohio, and they became parents of ten children, five of whom are living. His home was always noted for its hospitality, and no needy one was ever turned from his door empty-handed. It was in his church work, however, that the true life of Cornelius Ratliff shone forth with greatest brilliancy. He attended all the meetings of the Friends, and in forty years was never absent from his place in the house of worship except on three occasions, unless away from home. His was a noble Christian life, illumined by all the Christian virtues. During the last six years of his earthly pilgrimage he suffered from blindness, but bore the affliction uncomplain- ingly. He died June 18, 1890, in his ninety-second year, dropping asleep in
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the old home where he had resided for four-score years, but his memory remains as a blessed benediction to those who knew him, and his influence is still potent for good.
On the old family homestead, settled by his grandfather and subse- quently owned by his father, Joseph C. Ratliff was reared, remaining there until twenty-five years of age. In his youth he attended the district schools of the neighborhood through the winter season, while in the summer months he aided in the labors of the farm. Later he was a student in the Richmond Academy, but in 1848 he put aside his text-books and began teaching, which profession he followed through the winter, and again gave his attention to plowing, planting and harvesting from spring until fall. Desiring, however, to enter another walk of life, he pursued the study of dentistry with Dr. Webster, of Richmond, for a year, after which he took up the study of medi- cine under Dr. Plummer, of Richmond. In the years 1851 and 1852 he was a student in the Western Reserve Medical College, at Cleveland, Ohio, after which he engaged in the practice of dentistry and surgery in Richmond for two years. In 1854 he became engaged in the manufacture of paper, in company with Miles J. Shinn and Timothy Thistlethwaite, under the firm name of the Hoosier Paper Manufacturing Company, but the following year traded his interest in the business for a farm three miles west of the city. He next worked at the carpenter's trade for one year, and for a similar period followed the millwright's trade, after which he removed to his farm, comprising eighty-two acres. He transformed this into a very valuable and richly productive tract and carried on agricultural pursuits for seventeen years, or until 1872.
During this period he served as justice of the peace and held other local offices in Center township, Wayne county, and was also an enrolling officer during the war. In 1872 he removed to a farm west of the old family home- stead in Wayne township, and there erected a residence and barn and made other substantial improvements, his property eventually becoming one of the best farms of the locality. It continued to be his place of abode until May, 1888, and he managed his business interests so capably that they yielded him a substantial financial income. He was also called upon to settle many estates and act as guardian for many minors. At the time of this writing he is guardian for three insane people and has had several others under his charge.
In 1888 Mr. Ratliff removed to Richmond, and since that time has been actively associated with many of the leading business enterprises of the city. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Wayne Farmers' Insurance Com- pany, of Richmond, was formerly vice-president of the Union National Bank, which he aided in organizing, and was also a director in the First National
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Bank. For twenty-four years he was president, superintendent and treas- urer of Wayne County Turnpike Company, which was capitalized for thirty- nine thousand dollars, and which owned the national road until 1894, when it was sold. Mr. Ratliff is a man of splendid business and executive ability and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. His wise counsel and sound judgment have also been active factors in the suc- cessful management of other interests aside from business, and as trustee of Purdue University, of Lafayette, Indiana, he contributed not a little to its suc- cess. For seven years he was the efficient and honored president of the board of trustees of that institution of learning and for three years was president of the State Horticultural Society. Through these channels, as well as in other ways, he has promoted the interests of the farmer and fruit-raiser, and at all times he is alert in his efforts to improve the conditions of all lines of busi- ness, that the country may thereby become more prosperous and that all people may enjoy more of the comforts of life.
In his political affiliations Mr. Ratliff is a Republican and is a zealous advocate of the policy and principles of his party. In 1875 he was chosen to represent Wayne county in the state legislature, and while acting in that capacity was a member of the committee on education and sinking fund. The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend and he does all in his power for its advancement. He is a prominent Mason, is past master of Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M .; belongs to King Solomon Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M., and to Richmond Commandery, No. 8, K. T. He is past grand of White Water Lodge, I. O. O. F., and represented the local lodge in the grand lodge of the state in 1854. He is a member and treasurer of the Indiana Yearly Meeting and one of its active representatives.
The last event to be mentioned, but by no means the least important, in the life of Mr. Ratliff, occurred October 9, 1852, when was celebrated his marriage to Miss Mary F. Crawford, of Richmond, a daughter of Daniel B. Crawford. They had six children, four of whom are living, namely: Horace C., a farmer of Center township, Wayne county; Walter S., who resides on a farm adjoining his brother's; Benjamin S., a confectioner of Piqua, Ohio; and Laura C., at home. A man of domestic tastes, Mr. Ratliff has ever found his chief interest centering in his home and family, and has done all in his power to promote the happiness of wife and children. In every posi- tion which in his eventful life he has been called upon to fill, he has been highly successful. As a business man he is upright, reliable and honorable. In all places and under all circumstances he is loyal to truth, honor and right, justly regarding his self-respect and the deserved esteem of his fellow men as infinitely more valuable than wealth, fame or position. In those finer traits of character, which attract and endear man to man in ties of friendship,
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he is royally endowed. Few men have more devoted friends than he, and none excels him in unselfish devotion and unswerving fidelity to the worthy recipients of his confidence and friendship.
JOHN S. MARTIN.
Hon. John S. Martin was born November 24, 1835, on the farm upon which he now resides. His parents were Stephen and Sarah (Wilson) Mar- tin, natives of South Carolina, in the vicinity of Charleston. Stephen Mar- tin came to Franklin connty, Indiana, in 1810, and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land where Brookville is now situated and upon which our sub- ject now lives. Two brothers, George and William, accompanied him, and after about three years spent in Franklin county they moved to Fayette county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Stephen Martin was born March 7, 1783, and was of hardy constitution, well fitted to withstand the hardships of pioneer life. He began with the determination to make for himself and family a home and comfortable living in the wilderness of Indiana, and right well did he succeed. At the outset he cat poles and erected a comfortable cabin, which sheltered his family many years. There he instilled habits of thrift and industry into the young minds of his chil- dren, not forgetting that example is better than precept, with the result that he prospered above his expectations and acquired a neat property which placed him in most comfortable circumstances. He was a man of intelligence and was well posted upon all general topics of his time, upon many of which he was considered authority. He was actuated by generous impulses and was inclined to let those around him feel the warmth of his hospitality, deal- ing in deeds not words. In religion he was a Universalist, and he lived the liberal faith he professed and believed. He was twice married, his first wife being Anise Corner, to whom he was united March 12, 1801. Their children were: Elizabeth, born in October, 1803, married William Stoops; Edy, born November 15, 1805, married John Stoops; Amos D., born October 15, 1810, is deceased, having been county commissioner and a merchant; Will- iam, born January 24, 1812; Daniel C., born September 14, 1815; Stephen, born September 18, 1816; Eliza Jane, born July 5, 1822, was the wife of John Warren. All of these children are dead. The second marriage was with Sarah Wilson and was solemnized in January, 1833. She was born June 6, 1802, and died February 11, 1888. Her children were: John S., born November 24, 1835; Patty Annie, born June 10, 1838, now deceased; and Charles B., born May 28, 1841. Her father came to this county in 1810 and settled near the farm of Stephen Martin. Stephen Martin died on his farm, May 5, 1846.
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