USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 28
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 28
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 28
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 28
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Mr. Moorman was a very prominent and influential member of the Society of Friends, and in his younger days took a very active part in the work of the church. He was first connected with the Beech Grove meeting,
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and later with that at Fountain City. Before his death he and his daughter Rebecca donated two farms, comprising two hundred and fifty-two acres, to Earlham College, the income from which is to be devoted to the extension of the work of the Biblical department. His home was the place of entertainment for all the Friends, particularly the ministers who visited the neighborhood, and with his team and carriage he would drive the ministers from house to house, that they might visit the people of the denomination and promote the cause for which they were laboring. He made many sacrifices in the interests of his church, and throughout his life was deeply interested in its welfare. He was well read in the literature of the church as well as in Bible and other sacred history. At all times he was a warm friend of education and did all in his power to promote intellectual activity among his neighbors. Before the war he was a strong opponent of slavery and was connected with the " underground rail- road." He joined the Republican party when it was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery, and remained one of its stalwart advocates until his death. He was a man of firm convictions, honest purpose, kindly nature and upright life, and the world is better for his having lived. He departed from the scene of earth's activities November 14, 1889, but his memory is still enshrined in the hearts of his many friends.
Mrs. Rebecca Brown is now his only surviving child. She was married June 25, 1890, to Joseph Brown, a native of Preble county, Ohio, and since their marriage they have occupied the Moorman home in Fountain City. They carry on their farms, six in number, comprising about six hundred acres of land. Mr. Brown gives careful supervision to the property, and the improvements placed upon it have increased its value. Mrs. Brown greatly resembles her honored father in personal appearance and traits of character, is a faithful member of the Society of Friends, and her many admirable qualities and social nature render her very popular among a large circle of friends in Fountain City and Wayne county.
KITTRIDGE HILL.
Though now in his eighty-sixth year, Kittridge Hill, an honored citizen of Centerville, Wayne county, is strong and sound in mind and body, pos- sessing the energy and vigor of many a man in the prime of life. He has been practically retired from business cares since 1863, though he has exten- sive property interests in the east, the supervision of which he has never relegated to others. In former years he occupied a distinctive position in the commercial and political circles of his community, and was recognized as an authority in public affairs. He has been faithful to his conceptions of the duties of citizenship, ever striving to advance the interests of his fellow men.
John Hill, the founder of the Hill family in North Brookfield, Massa-
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chusetts, and ancestor of our subject, came to America from London, England, in 1725 or 1727. He became a permanent resident of North Brookfield in 1740, and died at his home in that place in 1775, at the advanced age of one hundred and two years and two months. The next in line of descent were his son Peter and grandson Peter, Jr. The latter was a farmer, and possessed considerable talent as a musician. His son Kittridge was born in North Brookfield in 1777, and the latter was the father of our subject.
Kittridge Hill, of whom this sketch is penned, was born in the northern part of North Brookfield September 29, 1813. In his early manhood he devoted himself to agriculture and found plenty of employment at his trade of stone-mason. He prospered in his various enterprises and still owns val- uable property in his native state, including the old homestead, which he formerly cultivated. He was actively interested in the promotion of the interests of the Democratic party, and was frequently honored with local offices of responsibility and trust. For four years he served as constable of North Brookfield township, and for similar periods he was collector and treasurer there, being also United States assignee in bankruptcy so long as the law creating that office was in force. During President Pierce's admin- istration he served as postmaster, was continued by Buchanan, and retained the office for some time after President Lincoln entered upon his term. Mr. Hill was so popular and so thoroughly efficient in the discharge of his duties as postmaster that, though the Republicans had come into power in the opening days of the war, and in spite of the fact that the Democratic sentiment was in a minority in New England at that time, when a ballot was taken among the citizens of North Brookfield he received a three-fourths vote. He resigned the same year, however, and was succeeded by a brother of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. He then removed to New York state, where he resided for a year or two, and in March, 1863, he came to Centerville, where he has since made his home.
In his early manhood Mr. Hill wedded Miss Susan H. Brimhall, the ceremony which united their fortunes being performed April 11, 1837. The following year Mrs. Hill died, and subsequently he married Miss Elizabeth R. Tyler, from whom he was divorced in 1860. The third wife of Mr. Hill was Miss Fanny B. Sheldon, of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and together they pur- sued the journey of life until the death of Mrs. Hill, at her home in this place, in 1891. Four sons were born to our subject, but only one, Lloyd Kittridge, of Centerville, survives. Albert Tyler died when three years old, and War- ren Tyler and Walter Copeland when young lads. The friends of Kittridge Hill are legion, both in Centerville and in North Brookfield, his former home, his many noble qualities having won the praise and admiration of his
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associates and acquaintances wherever he has gone. His life, which has nearly spanned the century, has been filled with useful, loving deeds, which will be remembered when he has been called to his reward. To his descendants he will leave the record of a blameless life, -a more priceless heritage than wealth.
LLOYD K. HILL.
Lloyd Kittridge Hill, who is well known throughout Wayne county because of his effective, earnest labors on behalf of the Democratic party, is of the sixth generation of Hills who have lived in New England, the founder of his family having settled in that section of the United States in the early part of the last century. He possesses the business ability, good judgment and acumen for which the Anglo-Saxon race is noted, and unites with these characteristics strong patriotism and an optimistic faith in the great future in store for his loved country.
Born at North Brookfield, Massachusetts, January 8, 1844, a son of Kittridge Hill, whose history precedes this sketch, our subject's boyhood memories are of the locality where his forefathers had dwelt for more than a century. His common-school education was supplemented by a course at the academy of his native town, and instruction in the higher branches of learning at Fall River College. When twenty years of age he accompanied his parents to Indiana, and for several years he was employed in clerking in various places, -in Centerville, Liberty, Cambridge and Terre Haute, among others. Then for two seasons he managed and conducted a dramatic com- pany, comprised of eighteen persons, touring through Indiana, Ohio, Michi- gan and many of the southern and western states, and was quite successful in this difficult enterprise.
Subsequently to his marriage, in 1870, Mr. Hill located at Centerville, where he has since made his home. He has owned and carried on a valuable farm adjoining the town, and has not confined his energies to agriculture, for he has been engaged in cutting and supplying hard-wood timber to various factories, has hauled material for buildings and county bridges and contracted for grading county roads. Thus he has always been kept very busy at some outside enterprise. He furnished the hard wood to the Henley manufactory for his roller skates, on which a fortune was made by that concern, and has supplied Gaar, Scott & Company, Robinson & Company and the Quaker City Chair Company with timber at times.
The cause of education has always found a strong friend in Mr. Hill, who served for six years here as a member of the school board, a portion of this period being the president and treasurer. The Democratic party has few stancher supporters in this county, which is strongly Republican, as
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Centerville was the home of Governor Morton and Senator Julian. For years he has served almost every election as one of the election judges, and frequently he has been sent as a delegate to local conventions of the party. He has been elected a member of the board of town trustees several times, and at present enjoys the distinction of being the president of the board. He is a firm believer in free silver and the principles ably advocated by Bryan in the last campaign, and is well posted upon all of the great questions of the day. Personally he is esteemed by all who have the pleasure of his acquaint- ance, for he is loyal and true to his friends, courteous and kindly in dispo- sition, and has due regard for the the rights and welfare of his fellow men.
On the 28th of May, 1870, L. K. Hill and Miss Louisa Pierce, of Knights- town, Indiana, were united in marriage. They have been blessed with six children, the eldest of whom, Ida May, is the wife of Jacob Smelser, of Bos- ton township, Wayne county. Mr. and Mrs. Smelser have one child, How- ard, who figures as one of a photographic group of the four living genera- tions of the Hill family. Grace C., the second daughter of our subject and wife, married John Hoerner, of Richmond. Adah, a young lady, is at home; Laura B., is a student in the Centerville high school, and the younger chil- dren are Lloyd Kittridge and Addie. They are receiving excellent educa- tions, the elder children being graduates of the high school here. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have reason to be proud of their family, and in looking back over their past they have little to regret, as they have faithfully performed the duties devolving upon them, in all their relations with their fellow men.
JOHN S. LACKEY.
John S. Lackey, who is well known throughout Wayne county and this section of the state, comes of a family early identified with its history. He is a grandson of John Lackey, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, about 1798, and reared eleven children, four of whom were associated with Cambridge City annals in later years, namely: Ira, Sanford, Mrs. Maria Richey and Mrs. Susan Kendall. The wife of Ira Lackey, Mrs. Catherine (Merritt) Lackey, departed this life, January 6, 1899, at the advanced age of ninety-three years.
Sanford Lackey, the father of our subject, was one of the pioneer mer- chants of this vicinity. Coming here from Cincinnati, Ohio, he established the first large and well equipped dry-goods store in Cambridge City, his original outlay of money in this enterprise amounting to ten thousand dollars. He was also much interested in horses, dealing in fine animals and transact- ing much business in this line in the course of a year.
John S. Lackey is a native of Cambridge City, born in 1850, and has. passed his whole life in this immediate vicinity. He is the second in order of
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birth of the five children of Sanford and Jane Lackey, the others being: Charles, Parke, Frank and Alice, the last named being the wife of B. F. Mosbaugh, editor of the Cambridge City Tribune. John S. Lackey remained unmarried until he was forty-two years of age, when he wedded Miss Cath- erine Driggs, of this city.
From his youth John S. Lackey was extremely fond of good horses, early becoming a reliable judge of their merits. In 1868 he opened a livery stable in Cambridge City, his native town, which enterprise he carried on successfully. In 1886 he instituted a combination sale, which has taken place each year since, and often from three to six hundred horses are sold, at one of these annual events the amount of money changing hands reach- ing one hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Lackey is the owner and manager of the Cambridge City race track and stables, and makes a specialty of training trotters and pacers, buying and matching teams, and executing various commissions of that nature. He is recognized as an authority on all questions relating to horses or the turf, and unquestionably takes the lead in these matters in this part of Indiana.
WALTER T. CARPENTER.
In a brief sketch of any living citizen it is difficult to do him exact and impartial justice, -not so much, however, from lack of space or words to set forth the familiar and passing events of his personal history, as for want of the perfect and rounded conception of his whole life, which grows, develops and ripens, like fruit, to disclose its true and best flavor only when it is mel- lowed by time. Daily contact with the man so familiarizes us with his many virtues that we ordinarily overlook them and commonly underestimate their possessor. Nevertheless, while the man passes away, his deeds of virtue live on, and will in due time bear fruit and do him the justice which our pen fails to record. There are, however, some elements in the life record of Mr. Carpenter that even now serve as examples well worthy of emulation, and his fellow townsmen are not unappreciative of these. He is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Richmond, and his name will ever be associated with Earlham College during the period of its greatest prosperity.
Born on the Ist of January, 1811, at Duanesburg, near Albany, New York, he is a son of Isaac and Mercy (Frost) Carpenter. The family is of Welsh lineage and the ancestry can be traced back in direct line to Ezra Carpenter, who was born in Wilkshire, Wales, in 1570, and had two sons, Richard and William. The latter never married, and died in 1701, leaving an estate estimated at three million pounds sterling. Richard Carpenter had two sons, Ephraim and Timothy, who emigrated to the United States in 1678, and located in Hempstead, Long Island. The latter was born Decem-
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ber 19, 1665, and had three sons, John, Runyan and Timothy. The first named, John Carpenter, of Oyster Bay, was born June 13, 1690, and had two sons, John and Abel. The former was born January 7, 1714, was a hatter by trade, and in 1736 removed to New Castle, Westchester county, New York.
Of his three sons, Abraham became the grandfather of our subject. He was born in Westchester county, December 27, 1728, and spent his entire life there, carrying on agricultural pursuits. He married Lydia Potter and had a family of ten children, including Isaac Carpenter, father of Richmond's well known citizen. He was born in Westchester county, New York, in 1779, and after his marriage to Mercy Frost removed to Duanesburg, that state, where he lived for ten years. In 1815 he became a resident of Clinton county, Ohio, where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1836. He was a farmer by occupation, and followed that pursuit through- out his entire life.
Walter T. Carpenter was the youngest son in a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, and with his parents removed to Clinton county, Ohio, when four years of age. He attended the common schools for a time, then spent one year as a student in a boarding school in Mount Pleasant, and one year in John Griscom's private school, in New York city. Returning then to his father's farm in Clinton county, Ohio, he there remained until his marriage, when, in 1834, he removed to Cincinnati and engaged in the milk business for two years. On the expiration of that period he again went to Clinton county, and embarked in the dry-goods business, which he carried on for ten years, when he returned to Cincinnati and joined his brother Calvin in the pork and commission business, under the firm name of C. Carpenter & Brother. This connection was continued two years, when the brother died, and our subject then removed to Warren county, Ohio, where he carried on agricultural pursuits for ten years. At the end of that time he came to Richmond, in 1858, and located on a farm, but in a few months he went to the Friends' Boarding School, now Earlham College, as superintendent, a position which he filled most acceptably for fifteen years. After two years' connection therewith the name was changed to Earlham College. He made the institution one of the leading educational features in this section of the state, and under his management its enrollment was increased from seventy pupils to more than two hundred. In the upbuilding and success of the school he was largely instrumental, having charge of the farm, the finances and the government of the students, in fact, virtually filling the office of president in connection with that of superintendent. His con- nection therewith covered the most prosperous era in its history, for it became a strong educational representative of the Society of Friends, and was entirely
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self-supporting, which it had not been before, nor has it been since. On his retirement from the school, in 1875, Mr. Carpenter engaged in farming for three years, on a farm three miles north of Richmond, Indiana, but his health failed and he removed to West Richmond, near the college, and has since made his home there, resting in the enjoyment of a well earned retire- ment from labor.
In 1834 Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage to Miss Susan Mabie, of Westchester county, New York, and they now have three living children and have lost one. Charles G., the eldest, is superintendent of the Richmond Roller Mills; Albert F. died in infancy; Caroline is the wife of Henry C. Wright, of Argus, Indiana; and Elizabeth is the wife of Daniel W. Mormon, of Indianapolis, a member of the firm of the Nordyke & Mormon Company and of the Light, Heat & Power Company.
Mr. Carpenter was reared in the political faith of the Whig party, and first gave his support to its men and measures, but on its dissolution he joined the ranks of the Republican party and has since been one of its stalwart advocates. He is interested in all that will promote good government and is a progressive, public-spirited citizen. Like his family for generations, he is connected with the Society of Friends and has lived a conscientious Christian life, characterized by many good deeds. Devotion to his family and friends, fidelity to every trust reposed in him, and advocacy of all that tends to benefit mankind, -- these are the salient characteristics of Walter T. Car- penter.
PERRY J. FREEMAN.
Mr. Freeman, who is the present postmaster of Richmond, and a mem- ber of the law firm of Johnson & Freeman, was born near Albion, Noble county, Indiana, on the 5th of August, 1857, his parents being Rev. Everson S. and Elizabeth J. (Prouty) Freeman. On the paternal side he is of Scotch- Irish extraction and on the maternal side is of German lineage. His grand- father, Rev. Noah Freeman, a minister of the New-Light church, was a native of Ohio and spent his entire life in the vicinity of Dayton, where he died in 1836. He married Margaret Morris, a niece of Robert Morris, the millionaire patriot whose liberality made possible the conduct of the financial affairs of the new republic. After the death of Rev. Noah Freeman she mar- ried Captain Frink and they removed to Noble county, Indiana, where they spent their remaining days. Captain Frink was a well known surveyor of pioneer times, served as county surveyor of Noble county and superintended the construction of the dam that forms the lake at Rome City, Indiana.
The father of our subject, Rev. Everson S. Freeman, was born near Dayton, Ohio, in 1832. He lost his father when four years of age, and when still a child came with his mother and stepfather to Indiana. He was
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reared to manhood in Noble county and, preparing himself for the work of the ministry, spent his entire life as a preacher of the gospel. He belonged to the North Indiana conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and labored among the people of that district for many years, but a short time before his death he removed to Topeka, Kansas, where his last days were passed. In October, 1893, at the age of sixty-three years, he was called to the home beyond. By his marriage to Elizabeth J. Prouty he became the father of two children: Mrs. Ella E. Owen, of Topeka, Kansas, and Perry J.
In various counties of the state Perry J. Freeman spent the days of his boyhood and youth. He completed the high-school course in Noblesville, Indiana, and also the work of the freshman year, in Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana. At the age of twenty he began teaching in Wayne county, where he followed that profession for five consecutive years. In April, 1883, he came to Richmond and registered as a student of law in the office of Hon. Henry U. Johnson, representative in the sixth congressional district, and his present law partner. His studies were carefully directed, and, applying himself with great diligence to the mastery of the science of jurisprudence, he gained a wide and accurate knowledge of the law. In March, 1885, he was admitted to the bar, and entered into partnership with his former preceptor, a connection that was maintained for two and a half years. He was then alone in business for two years, at the end of which time the old partnership relations were resumed, and the firm of Johnson & Freeman takes rank among the leading ones in this part of the state. Mr. Freeman is engaged in general practice, and has met with fair success. He is very painstaking and careful in the preparation of his cases, and, quick to note the strong points of a suit, he never fails to use them to the best advan- tage. Law rather than theory, common sense rather than pleasing rhetor- ical phrases, are the characteristically strong points of his argument, and his clients know him as one who is always true and loyal to the interests intrusted to his keeping. In 1890 he was a candidate for the nomination for prose- cuting attorney, but was defeated before the convention by H. C. Starr, of Richmond.
On the 5th of June, 1883, Mr. Freeman was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Howard, of Anderson, Indiana, and they have three children: Howard, Gath and Hazel. They have a pleasant home and many warm friends in Richmond.
It would be difficult to find anyone who takes a more genuine interest in the welfare of this city than Mr. Freeman, who at all times is ready to co-operate in any movement for the public good. In May, 1891, he was elected mayor of the city, and served three and a half years, a period of marked progress and improvement in the municipality. Under his adminis-
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tration an electric-light system was introduced, the sewerage system was improved, streets were paved with vitrified brick, and other changes were made, until Richmond became one of the best improved and most progressive cities of its size in the United States. This is due in no small measure to Mr. Freeman, who used his official power for the benefit of the town and its residents. In 1898 he was appointed postmaster, entering upon the duties of the office on the Ist of February. He isa member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also a valued representative of the Knights of Pythias fraternity. In all his social and business relations he is popular and influen- tial, and his future may be forecast at least to this extent: It will be charac- terized by great activity in the important things that concern the interests of society and good government.
HON. SAMUEL W. PARKER.
Hon. Samuel W. Parker, deceased, was a son of Samuel Parker, a native of Vermont, and of Elizabeth, née Miller, of Massachusetts, the former of English and the latter of German extraction. They removed with their parents to Jefferson county, New York, and were married October 20, 1803, in a town then known as Champion. They lived in Watertown, where the father died, leaving an only son, the subject of this sketch.
Samuel W. was born one month and seven days after his father's demise. At the age of one and a half years he was adopted by a kind and affectionate stepfather, Joseph Wadley, who owned a farm and flouring-mill near Sackett's Harbor. Here at the age of four years young Samuel began attending school. In 1815 the family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1818 to Oxford, same state. Having made a thorough preparation, Samuel W. entered Miami University in January, 1825, and graduated there in 1829, with high honors, his course being a succession of brilliant intellectual tri- umphs and evincing every omen of a bright future. He took high rank as a speaker.
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