USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 41
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 41
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 41
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 41
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admitted to the bar Mr. Davis practiced in Wabash county for two years and then married and went to Red Cloud, Nebraska, where he owned an interest in a sheep ranch. Returning to this state. he settled in Liberty and has here built up a large and paying practice. From 1887 to 1891 he was clerk of the courts and made a good record for efficiency and zeal in the discharge of his varied duties. He has often attended conven- tions of his party, the Republican, sometimes as a delegate from his own community, and for six years he was associated with the Lincoln League. He has passed all the chairs in the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias societies, and in the order first named has been district deputy and a member of the grand lodge of the state. Following the teachings of his parents, he is a Universalist in religion.
September 25, 1879, Mr. Davis married Miss Alice M. Hasson, of Dayton, Campbell county, Kentucky, and a native of Harrison, Ohio. A son and two daughters bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Alice Hasson is now pursuing her studies in the Liberty high school; Albert, Jr., and Mary H. are also attending the local schools; and all of the number are bright, promising young people, of whom their parents may be justly proud.
J. M. VAN METER.
This well known resident of Cambridge City is one of Indiana's native sons, his birth having occurred in Blooming Grove, Franklin county, March 2. 1847. His parents, Joseph and Sarah (Skinner) Van Meter, natives of Virginia, were among the very early settlers of Indiana, the former becoming a pioneer of Fayette county in 1814, and the latter locating in Fayette county in 1818. After their marriage they settled in Franklin county, where they were engaged in agricultural pursuits for many years. The father died in 1893, at the advanced age of eighty-five years.
J. M. Van Meter was reared on the old homestead near Blooming Grove, Franklin county, and early in life he developed a talent for mechanics and everything connected with machinery. For several years he was employed as a pattern-maker with the Terre Haute (Indiana) Car Works. In 1872 he came to this city, where he has since remained, and for twenty-three years he worked at the machinist's trade, his accustomed vocation. In 1895, when the Cambridge City water-works were established, he was placed in charge of the plant, in the capacity of engineer, and as such has served acceptably until the present time. He thoroughly understands his business and is unquestionably the right man for the place.
In November, 1874, Mr. Van Meter married Lizzie, daughter of Alex- ander and Jane (Harvey) Ray, both of whom are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Van Meter have five children, namely: Lillian I., Myrtle M., Bessie R.,
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Shiloh and Jeannette. Socially Mr. Van Meter belongs to Cambridge City Lodge, No. 5, Free and Accepted Masons, and to Cambridge Lodge, No. 9, Knights of Pythias. Years ago he was a charter member of Terre Haute Lodge, No. 18, Knights of Pythias, of Terre Haute, Indiana.
RICHARD JACKSON.
For many years Richard Jackson occupied a very conspicuous place among the leading business men of Richmond. He was prominently con- nected with the commercial and industrial interests of the city, and through the channels of trade contributed not alone to his individual prosperity, but to the welfare of Wayne county as well. His career was that of an honor- able, enterprising and progressive business man, whose well-rounded character also enabled him to take an active interest in educational, social and moral affairs, and to keep well informed concerning the momentous questions affecting the welfare of the nation. In all life's relations he commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he came in contact, and the memory of his upright life is an inspiration to the many friends who knew him well and were familiar with his virtues.
Mr. Jackson was of Scotch-Irish lineage, ancestors emigrating from Scot- land to the north of Ireland, whence our subject came to America. Andrew Jackson, president of the United States, and Judge Jackson, of the supreme court of West Virginia, were of the same family. Richard Jackson, the father of our subject, was a native of the Emerald Isle and spent his entire life in the vicinity of Belfast. He was a gentleman farmer and had a large landed estate, known as "The Parke," located in close proximity to the city. He was a man of wealth and prominence, and was also widely known throughout the country side as a magistrate.
Richard Jackson, who is the subject of this memoir, was born on his father's estate, April 11, 1827, and in 1841, being of an adventurous and enterprising spirit, left his native land at the early age of fourteen years and crossed the Atlantic to America, to seek his fortune in the New World, of whose privileges and advantages he had heard much. He spent several years in New York, where he was first employed as messenger and errand boy and afterward as salesman in a dry-goods establishment in New York and Brooklyn. Thus he obtained a thorough and practical knowledge of the business which he afterward prosecuted so successfully on his own behalf. This period of his life was one of hardship and privation, but he met his lot with courage and fortitude, and in his more prosperous days he referred to it as having been a useful discipline in forming the habits of industry, self- reliance and self-denial so essential to success in life.
In 1844 his family came from Ireland and took up their residence in
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Cincinnati, Ohio, where he soon afterward joined them. Before attaining his majority he was soon engaged in the dry-goods business on his own account in that city, and prosecuted his labors with great energy and suc- cess. Subsequently he removed to Indianapolis, where he carried on busi- ness for a time and thence came to Richmond in 1855. Here he founded the extensive dry-goods establishment known as the New York Cash Store, which was the first house conducted upon a strictly cash system in the city. It proved satisfactory, however, and by his unremitting attention to business, his frank and genial manner and honorable dealing, he commanded the respect and confidence of the entire community, which he continued to enjoy up to the time of his death. His efforts, however, were not confined to one line of trade, and he carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. In 1876, in connection with others, he organized the piano com- pany, now known as the Starr Piano Company, of Richmond, and was its secretary and treasurer at the time of his death. By his able management of finances he succeeded in placing it upon a substantial and paying basis, and making it one of the leading manufacturing interests of the city. He further improved the city by the erection of several large and important build- ings, and at all times took an active interest in and gave encouragement to any movement or enterprise that contributed to the welfare of Richmond or Wayne county.
In September, 1851, in Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Jackson was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Knott, with whom he lived in the closest bonds of affection and sympathy up to the time of his death. They had three sons and two daughters, all of whom survive him. He was devotedly attached to his family, finding his greatest pleasure in their society, and the chief object of all his care and labor was to contribute to their comfort and happiness and to provide his children with good educational privileges, thus fitting them for lives and of usefulness. The children are: L. B., who is engaged in oil speculation in Pittsburg, where he is a member of the firm of L. B. Jackson & Company; Mrs. Joseph Ruffner, of Charleston, West Virginia; R. A., a prominent attorney of Richmond; Malcolm, an able and leading lawyer of Charleston, West Virginia; and Mrs. Abigail Needham, of Richmond.
In social circles Mr. Jackson was always most genial and companion- able. With him friendship was inviolable, and his attachment to his friends was very strong. He delighted to extend to them the hospitality of his own fireside, and his home became the center of a cultured society circle. No one ever came in contact with him without catching somewhat of the inspira- tion of his. kindly nature. His kindness of heart was shown not only by words of sympathy but by acts of unostentatious benevolence. In business circles he was noted and respected for his great industry, energy, punctuality
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and his honorable and systematic methods, -all of which contributed to a large success, which he richly deserved. Few men were more familiar with questions of national importance, and he manifested an intelligent and dis- criminating interest in public affairs. During his residence in Indianapolis he joined the Protestant Episcopal church, of which he continued to be a member until his death. He had a firm belief in the truths of revealed religion, and in consequence death had no terror for him. His reverence for age was a part of his religion. He never passed an aged acquaintance with- out lifting his hat in respectful recognition, and rejoiced at every opportunity thus afforded him of paying this deference. He was a man of splendid phys- ique and vigorous constitution, and he enjoyed excellent health until near his death. His last days were spent in his beautiful home on Linden Hill, Richmond, and there he closed his eyes in death February 16, 1881. The entire community mourned his loss, for he was a man of incalculable worth to Richmond. A prominent representative of commercial interests, a popu- lar factor in social life, a faithful friend, a kind husband and father and a consistent Christian, he left behind him an untarnished record. His widow still survives him, at the age of seventy-two, and occupies the old home on Linden Hill.
WILLIAM S. DEMPSEY, M. D.
At an early day the ancestors of the subject of this narrative came to the United States from Ireland. His father, James A. Dempsey, was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1810, and grew to manhood there. He then went to Hocking county, Ohio, where he made his home until 1852, then going to Indianapolis, and a year afterward he became a permanent resident of Richmond. He was a blacksmith and gunsmith by trade, which occupa- tions he followed much of his life, and at one time he was considered quite well-to-do. From his youth he was a great student of the classics and stand- ard authors, and he possessed an unusually extensive and well selected library. Fraternally, he was a Mason. His long and happy life was brought to a close on the 31st of December, 1890, when he was in his eighty-first year. His widow, whose maiden name was Sarah Smith, was likewise a native of the Keystone state, and she is still living in Richmond, now in her seventy-eighth year.
Dr. William S. Dempsey is one of six children, five of whom were sons. He was born November 9, 1839, and, following in his father's footsteps, he was extremely fond of books even as a boy. By the time he was fifteen he had read and studied most of the classics, and ancient and modern history. This was chiefly accomplished by the light of tallow candles, and many a night the young student read until two o'clock in the morning, then to rise
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at an early hour and work all day! He has always retained his literary taste, and has frequently written articles for the papers, upon various topics. His style is incisive and sarcastic at times, and always entertaining, straight to the point and not too diffuse.
In August, 1862, at Richmond, Dr. Dempsey enlisted in the Union army, as a private in Company I, Eighty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served until the close of the war, and was with the Fourth Army Corps, in the Army of the Cumberland, in the numerous engagements in which it par- ticipated, but was never wounded nor taken prisoner. When his country no longer had need of his services he was honorably discharged. His brother, Joseph P., was a sacrifice on the altar of patriotism, as he was killed June 22, 1863, while making a gallant charge on the works at Vicksburg.
Dr. Dempsey studied medicine with Dr. M. W. Hobbs, of Richmond; Indiana, and later was graduated in the medical department of the University of Cincinnati, in 1873. Then, establishing an office in Indianapolis, he remained in that city until 1879, in the meantime acting as physician of the county jail, and under the appointment of the State Medical Association he was placed in charge of the hospital ward of the State Orphan Asylum, and served there for several years. Since 1879 he has lived chiefly in Richmond, but has spent short periods in St. Louis, Missouri, and Watertown, Minne- sota. Formerly he was actively associated with the county and state med- ical societies, and for many years he has been especially successful in surgical cases. He has always taken deep interest in all humanitarian societies and movements, and has frequently delivered lectures on professional subjects, and on intemperance, considered from the physician's point of view. He belongs to the Humane Society, of Richmond, being a trustee in that organi- zation, and in connection with this he holds the position of county truant officer.
The pleasant and attractive home of Dr. Dempsey is gracefully presided over by his wife, Mary E., the only daughter of the late Dr. Israel Tennis, of Richmond, whose history will be found following this article. The mar- riage of Dr. Dempsey and wife was solemnized in this city, September 14, 1891. Here, where they have so long been citizens, they are held in the highest regard by their innumerable friends.
ISRAEL TENNIS, M. D.
One of the widely known and loved pioneer physicians of Wayne county was Dr. Israel Tennis, whose life was filled with good deeds and labors of love toward his fellows. In the early days of his professional career he was obliged to spend much of his time, day and night, in riding through the coun- try to visit his patients, many of whom lived on remote farms, and faithfully
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did he respond to all demands from sick and suffering humanity, regardless of storm and flood and his own health and comfort.
Dr. Tennis was born July 19, 1805, in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and early life he removed to Ohio. There he took up the study of medicine with Dr. Williams, of Milford, and in 1833 he was graduated in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. The same year he established himself in prac- tice at Elizabethtown, Ohio, remaining there until 1842, when he removed to Centerville, then the county-seat of Wayne county. Later he located in Keokuk, Iowa, but returned to this state in the autumn of 1857, and from that time until he retired he was actively engaged in professional work in Richmond. In 1883, just half a century subsequent to his entrance upon his arduous life labors, he retired, and three years afterward, February 2, 1886, he received the summons to the silent land. The Wayne County Medical Association long numbered him among its most valued members, and he was considered an authority in many departments of medical research and prac- tice. A most zealous and beloved member of the Methodist Episcopal church, he held the office of trustee for a long period, and was ever faithful to the cause of Christianity, exemplifying its precepts in his daily life.
For fifty-one years Dr. Tennis and his devoted wife were sharers of each other's joys and sorrows, and five children, four sons and a daughter (Mrs. Dempsey), were born to them. The mother, whose maiden name had been Mary E. Pyle, was a resident of Elizabethtown, Ohio, at the time of her marriage, which event took place April 14, 1835. She survived her husband a few years, and was called to her reward March 24, 1891.
ALEXANDER WOOD.
Though a native of Ireland, born January 8, 1827, Alexander Wood resided in Indiana from the time that he was three months old until his death, and a more patriotic American citizen it would be difficult to find. His parents, William and Sarah Wood, upon coming to this state settled on a farm near Philomath, Union county, and there he spent his boyhood.
When he attained his majority our subject rented land for two years near the John Burke farm in Harrison township. In 1865 he bought the old homestead now in possession of his son, William L., a fine place of two hundred and ninety-five acres, then known as the Wyatt farm, and to this he afterward added the Baldwin property, comprising one hundred acres, and the Bradbury farm, which joined his own and contained one hundred and forty-five acres. Finally he became the owner of two farms, aggregating three hundred and twenty-five acres, one of which farms was the original estate of his father, William Wood, and is now owned by the daughter of our subject, Mrs. Richard McMullen. Prior to his death he gave his son one
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hundred and forty-five acres, and to his daughter, Mrs. Daniel Cully, he pre- sented the Ed. Hughes store in Liberty. About thirty years ago he erected the handsome brick residence which stands on his homestead, at a cost of about fourteen thousand dollars. In all his business transactions he was enterprising, alert, and generally successful, and in the early years of his active career he was extensively engaged in the raising and shipping of live stock.
In 1856 occurred the marriage of Alexander Wood and Miss Melinda Laur, of Fayette county. She survives him and is now living in Liberty. Mr. and Mrs. Wood had three children, namely : Gertrude, now the wife of Richard McMullen, who lives in Fayette county ; Harriet Cully, who resides with her mother ; and William Leven.
In 1891 Mr. Wood removed to the town of Liberty, where he made his home for a year and a half. Death came to him July 5, 1893, as the result of injuries received by him in falling from a cherry-tree. From his youth he had been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and for years was an active worker in Wood's chapel. Subsequently to the organi- zation of the Republican party he was zealous in the support of its principles and on two occasions he was honored by election to the office of county commissioner, and as such served acceptably for two terms. In all of the varied relations of life he was honorable, sincere and trustworthy, winning the praise and admiration of all who were associated with him in any manner.
WILLIAM L. WOOD.
William L. Wood is the owner and manager of the Woodland Heights Stock Farm, a beautiful and attractive homestead, situated in Brownsville township, Union county. It is the birthplace of the young man, who was born here March 28, 1866, and who has spent nearly his entire life in this immediate locality.
From his early years Mr. Wood has been very fond of fine horses, and for several years he has given his chief attention to the breeding and training of high-class animals. He has owned as many as forty-five at one time, the number, of course, varying with the number sold at his sales, which show a demand for his stock at high prices. Woodland Boy is at the head of the stud. This justly celebrated horse has a record of 2:092, made at Danville, Illinois, when a five-year-old, and as a three-year-old his record was 2:191. In the "free-for-all" races at Danville he won a purse of five hundred dol- lars. The sire of Woodland Boy, Gusto, made the same record, 2:19}, on the same track, at three years of age, and the dam, Daisy Mack, a pacer, has a record of 2:25. She is still owned by Mr. Wood, who possesses a number
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of other fine mares. Mulatto, a beautiful horse belonging to the stud, has a record of 2:21; and Gale, a pacer, has a record of 2:24}.
On the 7th of October, 1891, William L. Wood married Miss Ida McKay, and they have two daughters: Mildred and Margaret. The father of Mrs. Wood, William McKay, was the contractor for the new court-house at Liberty. Mrs. Wood is a lady of excellent educational and social attain- ments, and both she and her husband have many sincere friends in this part of the county.
JOHN C. SHIRK.
In the early part of the eighteenth century a young man of Switzerland started for the New World. His birth had occurred in the land of the Alps, and the child had been given the name of Caspar Shirk. Having attained to man's estate he married, and with his wife and young son took passage on a westward-bound sailing vessel for America. Ocean voyages in those days were fraught with great danger. Adverse winds impeded the progress of the little boat on which they were passengers, and they were so long delayed that the ship's food-supply gave out and they were reduced almost to starva- tion. The hardships of the voyage proved too great for the wife, and she died on shipboard, being buried in the " mad Atlantic." The young husband then took his little son Andrew and in sadness made his way to Pennsylvania, where he established a home. Some time afterward he remarried, and had a large family.
The boy, Andrew Shirk, grew to manhood and was the great-grandfather of our subject. He was born in Switzerland, September 7, 1753, and died at the home of his son Samuel, at the age of seventy-five years, four months and seven days. In his early manhood he was fired with a patriotic zeal to aid his adopted country in her struggle for independence, and enlisted, in Pennsylvania, as a member of the Colonial army. He participated in the Carolina campaign under the distinguished General Greene, and there received the wound which cost him years of suffering and eventually termi- nated his life. After the surrender of Cornwallis and the cessation of hostil- ities, he took up his residence near Augusta, Georgia, where he married Martha Hamilton, by whom he had eight children, namely: John, David, Andrew, Joseph, Samuel, Isaac, Nancy and Martha. There being no mail across the mountains in those days, he was unable to communicate with his parents and soon lost all trace of them. After some years he emigrated with his family to Kentucky, traveling with a caravan, the members of which were mostly mounted on horses. Two of the children, David and Samuel Shirk, the latter the grandfather of our subject, being quite small, were carried in baskets hanging over a pack-saddle on the same horse, and Samuel Shirk said that he never forgot the terror with which his childish heart was filled
John C. Shirk
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as he gazed from his position on his horse down into the gulches, hundreds of feet below. On account of his strong opposition to slavery, Andrew Shirk remained but a short time in Kentucky. On horseback he made his way to Cincinnati, then a small trading post of not more than twenty inhabitants, and, refusing an offer of ten acres of land, in what is now the heart of the Queen City, for his horse, he journeyed north to the big Miami river, where he remained for a time near the old Colerain fort. Later he removed from Ohio to Indiana, which was then an almost unbroken wilderness and yet a territory. About the year 1810 he entered land, afterward known as the old Ries farm, and his initials are still to be seen carved in an old tree which still stands near the home of Rev. Thurston. His wife died November 15, 1820, and his death occurred several years later. He was a zealous Chris_ tian man, at all times true and upright.
His son, Samuel Shirk, the grandfather of John C. Shirk, of this review, was born near Augusta, Georgia, August 25, 1792, and died September 5, 1859. He was married August 28, 1815, to Elizabeth Stout, whose father, Job Stout, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and served as an aide-de- camp on the staff of General Washington, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown. Prior to his marriage Samuel Shirk had entered eighty acres of land and had built a log cabin, to which he took his bride. The little home was filled with happiness, although toil and priva- tions fell to their lot. Mr. Shirk, with the aid of his brother, had to saw enough lumber with the old-fashioned whipsaw to pay for his land, besides the labor of getting it in a condition to cultivate; but in the course of time the wild tract was made to bloom and blossom as the rose, and the raw land became a richly cultivated farm. He was one of the founders of the Big Cedar Baptist church and made and donated the brick from which the church building was constructed, and he was also a deacon and "singing clerk " in the church until his death. Samuel Shirk served as county commissioner for nine consecutive years, and enjoyed the confidence of the entire people. In business affairs his counsel was often sought and freely given, and his reputa- tion for reliability was unassailable. He loved study and sought after wisdom, often spending the hours of the night in poring over the books then obtainable. His children took great delight in gathering about him on long winter evenings while he explained to them subjects otherwise too deep and intricate for the intellect of youth. He commanded the respect of all who knew him and was one of the most honored pioneers of Franklin county.
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