USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 25
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After the cessation of hostilities he accompanied his father on his removal to Howard county, Indiana, where he assisted in the labor of clear- ing and developing a farm. He also was employed in his father's sawmill for two years, and then turned his attention to educational pursuits. He
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taught his first term in a log school-house in Howard township, in the winter of 1867-8, and, soon demonstrating his ability, was entrusted with a more important position, that of first assistant in the high school at Kokomo. He was then offered a principalship, but declined, desiring to advance his own education, which had been abruptly terminated by his enlistment in the army.
In the fall of 1869 he entered Asbury University, now De Pauw, where he was graduated in 1874. Then he engaged in teaching, in the high schools of Greentown and Kokomo, until 1878, when he was elected county superin- tendent of schools for Howard county, and by re-election he served in that office for thirteen years. He was never defeated for office, and bis long service indicates his popularity and the confidence reposed in him by the people of Howard county.
In 1878 he was elected chairman of the Republican central committee of Howard county and served for two years, at the expiration of which period he retired, as his duties in that position interfered with his labors as county. superintendent. While the incumbent of the latter office he was selected by Congressmen Steele and Waugh to assist in conducting an examination for cadets for West Point. In 1883 he wrote the war history of Howard county. In 1890 he was a candidate for the nomination for superintendent of public instruction of Indiana. He discontinued his school work in that year and until 1894, in connection with his brother, George D. Barnes, was engaged in the saw and planing mill business in Saline county, Illinois, where they owned twelve hundred acres of fine timber land.
In February, 1894, Mr. Barnes came to Richmond and assumed the business management of the Evening Item. He purchased a half interest in the paper April 1, 1896, and on the Ist of July, 1898, J. B. Gordon was admitted to a partnership, under the firm name of Barnes & Gordon. These gentlemen are the present proprietors and publishers of the Item, which is now the leading paper of Richmond. Since Mr. Barnes became connected with the journal its circulation has greatly increased, and it now has the largest patronage of all papers published in cities of the size of Rich- mond or less in the state, its subscribers numbering two thousand and nine hundred. The leading merchants of Richmond all regard it as the best advertising medium in this part of the state, and it is thus enabled to com- mand the highest rates for advertisements. The office is equipped with the best style of presses, the latest improved machinery, including linotypes, and accessories for turning out first-class work, while the literary tone of the paper equals that of any journal in Indiana. The proprietors are both gen- tlemen of high intellectual culture.
In his social connections Mr. Barnes is a Mason and Knight of Pythias. He maintains pleasant relations with his old comrades through his member-
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ship in Sol. Meredith Post, No. 55, Grand Army of the Republic, and is highly esteemed by his brethren of these fraternities. His home life also is very pleasant. He was married January 9, 1879, to Wyoma A. Brandon, of Kokomo, and they now have two sons, Earl B. and Creston W. The former was born March 17, 1881, was graduated in the Richmond high school in 1898, the youngest boy in the class, and is now in his sophomore year in Earlham College. He was a delegate at large representing the Indiana col- leges at the Republican Lincoln League state convention at Fort Wayne in 1899, the youngest representative sent to that convention, and was one of the three debaters selected by Earlham College to meet three representatives from Indiana University in joint debate in Richmond, April 21, 1899. In this debate the unanimous decision of the judges was given to Earlham College.
J. BENNETT GORDON.
Mr. Gordon is a member of the firm of Barnes & Gordon, publishers of the Item, of Richmond, and is the able and efficient editor of that bright and newsy journal. He is undoubtedly the youngest editor in the state, and has been familiar with newspaper work for many years.
He is the son of Charles E. and Nancy (Bennett) Gordon, and was born in Dixon township, Preble county, Ohio, April 29, 1876. The family from which he springs is of Scotch-Irish extraction and was founded in this coun- try before the war of the Revolution, locating in Guilford county, North Car- olina. Charles Gordon, our subject's grandfather, was born and reared to manhood in that county, and moved with the tide of emigration westward, settling in Union county, Indiana. He married and brought up a large num- ber of children, was a prominent farmer, owning a considerable extent of land in this state, and was known as a thrifty, prosperous man.
Among his children was Charles E. Gordon, the father of our subject, who was born in Union county, Indiana, in 1849. After reaching the state of manhood he engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native county, and was quite prosperous. Later he moved to Preble county, Ohio, where he con- tinued as a farmer until 1883, when he moved to Richmond, in order that his son might receive the benefit of more thorough educational training. In 1864 he enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Cavalry, Company D, and served through the war. In marriage he was united with Miss Nancy Bennett, April 26, 1873, who still survives him and resides in Richmond, at which place he died April 26, 1885. His widow remarried, wedding Arthur Hazelton in 1889.
J. Bennett Gordon was an only child. He entered the district schools at the age of five years and was instructed in them until he was eight years old, when his parents removed to this city and he became a student in the public
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schools here. He graduated in the high school in the class of 1894, when but eighteen years of age, being one of the four chosen, on account of thought and delivery, to represent his class on graduation day. He gave great prom- ise of literary talent at an early age, and when a student in the high school he was always prominent in every literary task of his class. He was active in the organization of the first debating club in the Richmond high school.
After his graduation he was given the position of city editor in the office of the Richmond Telegram, where he showed that he was a thorough mas- ter of the situation, and afforded the publishers of that paper great satisfac_ tion by his able management of that department. In the autumn of 1895 he entered Earlham College and completed the regular literary course in three years, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Literature. While attend- ing to his class work he took a prominent part in the literary work of the college, debates, etc., and was regarded as the best speaker in the class, of which he was president. He twice represented his college in the debate with De Pauw University, being a member and the leader of the team which captured the state championship in forensics. He was also a regular corre- spondent of the Item.
Immediately after graduating at Earlham he purchased an undivided half interest in the Item, of B. B. Johnson, and took editorial charge July I of that year. The business of the journal is conducted on strictly business methods, and Mr. Gordon, as editor, so well understands the wants of the reading public that he publishes the news in the most intelligible and attract- ive form, and has met with ready appreciation and extended patronage. The Item is to-day the leading paper in this part of the state. It is a power in the Republican ranks, is bold and fearless in its utterances of the truth, and its influence can hardly be overestimated.
Mr. Gordon is one of the most active and intelligent workers of the Republican party in this state, and is destined to become a leader. He is the president of the Young Men's Republican Club of Richmond, and has been a speaker in the cause for several years. In 1896 he "stumped " the sixth congressional district of Indiana, delivering fifty-six speeches in six weeks during the campaign. Two years later he was under the direction of the state committee and was sent to "stump " the sixth congressional dis- trict and southern Indiana. As a speaker he is argumentative and convinc- ing, being known as a " vote-maker." He is in frequent demand as the orator of various public gatherings; and if his career as a public speaker is unchecked he will be widely known in the future as an orator who adorned the rostrum, and a scholar whose literary productions are models that are studied and appreciated. He was a delegate to the state convention of 1898 and was a member of the committee on credentials for his district. He is a
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prominent member of the Lincoln League in Indiana, being a member of the state committee, representing the sixth congressional district.
Mr. Gordon is a young gentleman of exemplary habits and a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Richmond. At present he is engaged with Professor Hodgin, of Earlham College, in compiling a political history of Wayne county, Indiana, together with biographical sketches of the county's most prominent politicians.
JOHN UHL.
There is no element which has entered into our composite national fab- ric which has been of more practical strength, value and utility than that fur- nished by the sturdy, persevering and honorable sons of Germany, and in the progress of our Union this element has played an important part. Intensely practical, and ever having a clear comprehension of the ethics of life, the German contingent has wielded a powerful influence, and this service can- not be held in light estimation by those who appreciate true civilization and true advancement.
Among the most prominent German-American citizens of this section of Indiana is John Uhl, of Connersville, who was born near Heidelberg, Ger- many, June 16, 1828, a son of George and Catharine (Miller) Uhl, who spent their entire lives in that country. Being drafted, the father entered Napoleon's army at the age of sixteen years, and after the overthrow of that great commander he served seven years longer under the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was delicate as a youth and most of his service under Napoleon was in the hospital, where he studied and practiced surgery. After the close of his military service he was engaged in the grocery trade, kept a hotel and also engaged in surgical work, such as cupping, bleeding and setting limbs.
Our subject remained with his parents until twenty-two years of age and acquired a good education, attending first the excellent public schools of Germany and subsequently a gymnasium and seminary. Under his father he also learned something of surgery and the grocery and hotel business. Emi- grating to America he landed in New York city, June 1, 1850, and the same day started for Cincinnati, which he reached one week later. Being nearly out of money, he took up the barber's trade, which then included cupping, bleeding, etc., of which he had an excellent knowledge.
In 1857 Mr. Uhl came to Connersville, Indiana, and purchased an inter- est in a brewery, with which he was connected for two years. During that time he learned something of coopering and started a cooper shop of his own. He soon established a good business and gave employment regularly to fourteen men for six years, the product of his plant finding a ready sale in
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the home market, as Abraham B. Conwell and others were at that time- extensively engaged in the pork-packing business and needed barrels. The work was then all done by hand. Mr. Uhl is still interested in the business, which is now conducted on a small scale. In 1865 he embarked in the mill- ing business, operating with different partners the Valley Mills on Whitewater river, in Connersville. He has been from that date the leading spirit in the business, which is a large one, and is now conducted under the firm name of Uhl & Snyder, his son-in-law, Frederick Snyder, being a member of the company. Mr. Uhl is also a stockholder in the Connersville Furniture Com- pany and was formerly a director in the First National Bank, one of the strong financial institutions of the county. He is a business man of much more than ordinary ability and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. Religiously, he is a member of the German Pres- byterian church, and socially of Guttenburg Lodge, No. 319, I. O. O. F.
In 1850 Mr. Uhl was united in marriage with Miss Maria Elizabeth Kart- sher, a native 'of the same place as her husband, and to them were born two . children: Minnie, who married Frederick Snyder and died in 1880, leaving two children; and George W., who died in 1883, at the age of thirty years. He was a bright young man with seemingly a brilliant future before him, having obtained a good English and commercial education. For seventeen years he was connected with the First National Bank of Connersville, where he was serving as assistant cashier at the time of his last illness. He spoke and wrote both English and German fluently, had a good knowledge of French, and had traveled extensively over this country and also Germany, France and Italy.
LELAND H. STANFORD.
Everywhere in our land are found men who have worked their own way from humble and lowly beginnings to places of leadership, renown and high esteem, and it is still one of the proudest boasts of our fair country that such, victors are accounted of thousandfold more worth and value to the common- wealth than the aristocrat, with his inherited wealth, position and distin- guished name. "Through struggles to triumph " appears to be the maxim which holds sway over the majority of our citizens, and though it is undeni- ably true that many an one falls exhausted by the conflict, a few, by their inherent force of character and strong mentality, rise paramount to environ- ment and all which sought to hinder them. Thus it has been with the emi- nent member of the bar of Liberty, Indiana, whose name opens this biog- raphy, and in whose life history many useful lessons may be gleaned.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 13, 1848, he was bound out at an early age, and when fifteen he ran away from his employer and enlisted in the .
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Sixty-ninth Ohio Regiment. After serving in Sherman's army for two years in the defense of the Union, the war was brought to a close and he was given an honorable discharge at Camp Dennison, July 26, 1865. The young man then went to California, and on the Pacific coast he was employed at various callings,-spent some time in running sawmills, and had charge of a gang of Chinamen when the Virginia City & Truckee Railway was in process of con- struction, and also superintended some of the work on the Central Pacific Railroad. On his trip to the west he went by way of the Isthmus of Panama, but on his return he was enabled to come by the recently completed railroad across the country. He arrived in Indiana at the beginning of winter, almost stranded, without home, friends or money. He wandered from Richmond to Liberty, vainly seeking employment of any kind, and when almost despairing he met kind-hearted Frank Coddington, who sent him to Abner C. Beck, a farmer who had been anxious to hire some one to assist in the management of his homestead. After some argument and discussion Mr. Stanford was engaged at a salary of sixteen dollars a month and board, and he continued to reside on the farm until November, 1870.
In the meantime he had greatly surprised Mr. Beck by marrying that gentleman's daughter, Elizabeth J. Late in the autumn of 1870 the young couple took up their residence in Liberty, where their home has since been made, almost uninterruptedly. It had always been a dream of Mr. Stan- ford's that he might some day enter the legal profession, and, while he was on the farm he had spent many an evening in serious study and preparation. Admitted to the bar on the 2d of January, 1871, he opened an office, and in earnest began the battle for name and position, which for some years appeared to be a hopeless endeavor. By himself he had picked up stenography and in 1873 he took a special course in reportorial work of J. E. Munson, who was the official stenographer of the surrogate court of New York. He found that this was a great benefit to him, while he was getting started in the practice of law. His first legal encounter was in Brownsville, where he tried a case before a justice of the peace, this being prior to the time that he left the farm. Practice came slowly, he was unknown and handicapped in many material ways, but he persevered with wonderful determination. His father- in-law tried to discourage him from continuing in the law and gave Mrs. Stanford ten acres of land, on which was built a small house. Our subject carried on this homestead, working in the early morning and after his return from town studying hard every evening to post himself further in the law. Such pluck and perseverance deserve reward and success at length came to him, though not until after he had been obliged to sell all but two acres of the little farın, and on that remnant there was a mortgage of four hundred dollars.
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In 1875 he removed to Lebanon, Indiana, where he spent a year, after which he engaged in court reporting for a similar period at Indianapolis, and after living in Connersville for another year he returned to Liberty. Having won in several cases of considerable note, Mr. Stanford now found the tide of public favor turning in his direction, and from that time forward he pros- pered. At the present time he is on the top wave of success and is steadily pressing forward to yet greater achievements.
In 1880 Mr. Stanford was elected, on the Democratic ticket, to the responsible office of prosecuting attorney of this county and served in that capacity for two terms, having been re-elected at the expiration of his first term. He gave general satisfaction to all concerned and met the require- ments of the office with fidelity and ability. He has always been an ardent supporter of the principles and nominees of the Democratic party, though he is not a politician. Among his property interests are included some seven hundred acres of the best land in Union county.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stanford, a son, Roscoe L., and a daughter, Lillian, were born. The latter is the wife of Robert E. Barnhart, a graduate of the law department of DePauw University, and now in partner- ship with L. H. Stanford. The domestic life of our subject has been remark- ably happy, and in all his reverses and discouragements he has had the loving sympathy and advice of his wife, a lady of true and tested worth.
J. D. KERR, M. D.
A native of Henry county, Indiana, born December 31, 1863, the sub- ject of this sketch comes of a family of physicians, several of whom have attained distinction in the profession, and he seems to have inherited in a marked degree love for the noble task of succoring those laid low by disease or accident.
Dr. Kerr, now engaged in practice in Green's Fork, Wayne county, was but two years old when his father, Daniel Webster Kerr, a young man of but twenty-four years of age, was summoned to the silent land, in January, 1866. The child was reared in the home of his paternal grandfather, Dr. William M. Kerr, one of the prominent and renowned physicians of Henry county, and from his early years was made thoroughly familiar with all departments of medical science. For two-score years or more the grandfather was actively engaged in practice, and in pioneer days was obliged to ride far and wide to answer the calls of distant patients, his own home being in Stony Creek township.
After having made excellent progress in his efforts to gain an education, and in 1882 having been graduated in the high school at New Castle, Indiana, our subject went to Storm Lake, Iowa, where he engaged in the drug busi-
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ness with a relative, Dr. William H. Kerr. At the end of two years he returned to this state end embarked in the same line of business in partner- ship with N. P. Carter, his paternal uncle. After they had been pleasantly and profitably associated together for several years, Mr. Carter withdrew from the firm and Dr. Kerr carried on the business alone. Many years before he had contemplated entering the medical profession, and had studied with his grandfather and others, and in the fall of 1895 he matriculated in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis. There he took one course of lec- tures and the following winter attended the medical department of the uni- versity at Louisville, Kentucky. In the spring of 1898 he was graduated in the Indiana Medical College, with the degree of doctor of medicine. Hav- ing pursued a systematic course of study and instruction under the guidance of Dr. John A. Larrabee, a celebrated specialist in the diseases of infants and children, Dr. Kerr passed an examination and was presented with a diploma January 31, 1897. Thus thoroughly prepared, theoretically and practically, for his professional work, the Doctor commenced the labors to which he expected to devote his best talents and energy. He has won the good will of his brethren in the profession and enjoys a large and growing patronage. In 1886 he was united in marriage with Miss Eva Reinheimer, a daughter of Adam Reinheimer, and to this estimable couple one child, Blanch M., has been born.
ANDREW BURGESS.
Andrew Burgess, of Wayne township, Wayne county, Indiana, was born in the house in which he now resides, April 10, 1833. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth Burgess. His mother was a daughter of William Bulla. Samuel Burgess was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, Jan- uary 10, 1795, and came to Indiana about the year 1815 with his father, John Burgess, who entered the tract of land now owned by the family, but lived on an adjoining tract across the river. John Burgess died at the age of fifty-two years, before the birth of our subject. He had four sons-Samuel, Jonathan, Daniel and Abner, and five daughters, all dead except Rebecca Griffin, youngest daughter; and she is quite aged. Daniel left two children: Jennie, who died at the age of twenty-three years, unmarried, and Emma, the wife of Jesse Burgess, her cousin. Jonathan died at Green's Fork at the age of seventy years, unmarried. Samuel had made great improvements on the farm before his marriage, hewing poplar logs with which he constructed the house some seventy-five years ago. He died in 1836, at the age of forty- one years. His wife, Elizabeth Bulla, was born on February 27, 1800, and died in 1858, twenty years after her husband. Their marriage was con- tracted in this state and a family of nine children were born to them, viz .:
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Melinda, the wife of Oliver Barber, living in Kansas; Anna, who became the wife of John Park Voss and died at the age of fifty-four years; John, who spent the greater part of his life on the old homestead and died at the age of sixty-eight years; Mary Jane, who married Ephraim Overman and died in Kansas, at the age of fifty years; Eliza, who is the widow of William Sinex and resides in Richmond; William Bulla, who is a farmer at Hagerstown; Daniel Milton, who also is a farmer at the same place; Jesse, who resides on part of the old homestead; and Andrew, our subject, who is the youngest of the family. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Burgess continued on the farm, reared her family and saw them all settled in homes of their own. John, her eldest son, was but sixteen years old when his father died, but with his help she ran the farm in a highly creditable manner. This property was not divided until after her death. She was an earnest Christian woman and active worker in the Methodist church.
Andrew Burgess was but three years old at the time of his father's death. He attained the years of manhood on the farm, and as the older sons grew up and settled in homes of their own, upon him and his brother Jesse devolved the management of the place for some years prior to the death of their mother. The farm then was divided among the children, our subject receiv- ing as his portion the house with thirty-three acres of ground. He joined hand and heart with Miss Margaret Sulser on April 21, 1858. She was a daughter of Harrison and Mary (Sanderson) Sulser, of Wayne township. In addition to his farm labors he also did considerable carpenter work. He grew large quantities of sorghum cane and was one of the first in this section to manufacture it into syrup. He has been engaged in this work for the past thirty-five years and has made as much as four thousand gallons in a single season. In later years he has turned his attention to raising strawberries, which he finds to be a profitable crop. In 1880, after almost twenty-two years of life together, his wife passed to that better land, leaving him the following family: Mattie, wife of Frank Lough, of Richmond; Ida, a teacher in Logansport, for six years in the schools at Richmond; and Oliver A., who lives at home and helps with the farm. September 1, 1882, he was married to Mrs. Essie Belsham, widow of Arthur Belsham, a bookkeeper. She is a daughter of William and Catherine (Reynolds) Fagan, and was born in 1850, in Williamsburg, Wayne county, Indiana, to which place her parents had moved from New Jersey a few years before. While she was an infant they located in Richmond and her father kept the national toll gate on the road west of the city. He was in charge of this until his death, nearly thirty years afterward, at the age of eighty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess have one child, Howard, who is a student in the high school. Mrs. Burgess had two children by her first marriage: Alden, who was a machinist and made
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