USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 5
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 5
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
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they have a large export trade. The name of Gaar, Scott & Company upon any piece of machinery is a guaranty of its excellence and a recommenda- tion that is everywhere received, for the reliability of the company is a matter widely recognized throughout the business world. The present officers of the company are: John M. Gaar, president; Joseph B. Craighead, vice-presi- dent; S. S. Stratton, Jr., secretary; and Howard Campbell, treasurer and general manager. They employ an army of skilled workmen, each depart- ment being under the direction of expert machinists, and every machine sent out from the foundry is made with a degree of perfection unsurpassed up to the present time. The men are paid good wages, and the relation between employers and employes is most harmonious, owing to the justice and con- sideration on the part of the former, which awakens the good will and respect of the latter.
While John M. Gaar is at the head of one of the leading foundry enter- prises of the world, his efforts have been by no means confined to one line of endeavor. It would be difficult to imagine what the business life of Richmond would be without his guiding hand, his wise counsel and his financial assist- ance. He is now president of the Second National Bank, of the city, presi- dent of the F. & N. Lawn Mower Company, and president of the Richmond Natural Gas Company, and has been a most potent factor in the success which has attended these various enterprises. In addition, he has engaged in stock- raising on a large scale and has managed an extensive farm. Thus has he been prominently connected with the agricultural, industrial and commercial interests of the city, and is none the less prominent in social circles. He is a valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Masonic fraternity, and his genial, unassuming manner has gained him the sin- cere friendship of many of the representatives of these lodges. His early political support was given the Democratic party, but on the organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks, and has since been one of the stal- wart advocates of its principles.
On the 20th of January, 1848, Mr. Gaar was united in marriage to Miss Hannah A. Rattray, who died June 6, 1849, leaving a daughter, H. A., who is now the wife of Joseph B. Craighead, vice-president of the Gaar, Scott & Company's Works. On the 16th of September, 1865, Mr. Gaar was again married, his second union being with Helen M. Rattray, who was born March 2, 1840. Three children were born of this union: William W., a resident of Richmond; Jennie, wife of W. B. Leeds, of Chicago, the presi- dent of the American Tin Plate Company, of Elwood, Indiana; and John M., Jr., deceased.
For seventy-six years Mr. Gaar has been a resident of Wayne county, and has long been accounted one of the most prominent and progressive
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citizens of Richmond. He may well be termed one of the founders of the city, for he has been the promoter of many of the leading business interests, and the history of Richmond, as of that of all other modern cities, is largely the history of commercial activity. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, always known for his prompt and honorable methods of dealing, which have won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellow men.
FIELDING GAAR.
After a successful business career, in which he has acquired a handsome competence, Fielding Gaar is now living a retired life in Richmond. He was born in the city which is still his home, on the Ist of January, 1827, his par- ents being Jonas and Sarah (Watson) Gaar. His boyhood days were spent under the parental roof, and in the subscription school he obtained his educa- tion. Early trained to habits of industry, he served a regular apprenticeship to the machinist's trade, under the direction of his father, completing his term on attaining his majority. Throughout the remainder of his active business career, he was employed along that line. He is still a stockholder in the factory of Gaar, Scott & Company, and held a similar connection with the predecessor of this company,-A. Gaar & Company. A mammoth business is conducted by this factory, and its extensive sales have brought to the stock- holders a most desirable income. Their trade, in the sale of the boilers, saw- mills, threshing machines and portable and traction engines which they con- struct, extends not only throughout this country but to foreign lands as well, and brings to the owners marked prosperity. Fielding Gaar is also the owner of a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres, south of Richmond.
In his political views he is a Democrat and formerly took quite an active part in advancing the interests of the Democracy, but is not aggressively par- tisan. At one time he represented the second ward in the city council and gave his support to all progressive measures for the public good. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree, holding membership in the commandery of Richmond. For thirty- five year he has been connected with Whittier Lodge, No. 41, I. O. O. F., and is held in high esteem by the brethren of the fraternity.
Mr. Gaar was married in Richmond, in 1865, to Miss Mary J. Gallagher, and four children have been born of this union, namely: Jonas, of Rich- mond, who is a member of the firm of Pogue, Miller & Company; Charles, a machinist with Gaar, Scott & Company; Indiana, wife of Harry Gilbert, of Richmond; and Earl, who is eighteen years of age, and is with his par- ents. Mr. Gaar is now resting in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. He has reached the age of three-score years and ten, and now, on the
Le Gaar
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western slope of life, he is resting from arduous cares, in the midst of family and friends, who esteem him for his honorable record and his many com- mendable characteristics.
JONAS GAAR.
Numbered among the younger business men of Richmond is Jonas Gaar, whose whole life, save the time spent in the east, at college, has been passed in this flourishing little city. The eldest son of Fielding and Mary J. (Galla- gher) Gaar, he was born in Richmond, on the 22d of January, 1867. After completing his education in the public schools of this place, he matriculated in Cornell University, where he passed two years in earnest study, qualifying himself for the more serious duties of life.
In 1886 our subject returned home, where he was offered the position of assistant postmaster, and, accepting the place, served under J. F. Eldor, un- til 1890, making an efficient and popular official. He then became interested in the firm of Pogue, Miller & Company, buying a share in the business. This well known hardware house was established in 1880 by Charles H. Pogue and George W. Miller, both of Richmond, the firm name being Pogue & Miller until Mr. Gaar was admitted to the partnership. In 1893 Mr. Pogue retired from the business, and Mr. Gaar acquired a half interest, though the old style of the firm remains as formerly. The location of their store is on Fort Wayne avenue, and by judicious management their trade, which is exclusively wholesale, is growing steadily, year by year. Mr. Gaar possesses marked business ability, and it is safe to predict for him a suc- cessful and useful future.
On the 23d of October, 1889, Mr. Gaar married Fanny C. Pogue, daugh- ter of A. L. Pogue, a prominent and influential citizen of Richmond. Two interesting children bless the home of our subject and his estimable wife: Mary Frances, born July 2, 1890, and Americus Fielding, born July 17, 1894. The family reside in a beautiful home in the most desirable portion of east Main street, and are surrounded by all of the comforts and many of the lux- uries that denote refined and cultured tastes.
EPHRAIM DERBYSHIRE, M. D.
Doctor Derbyshire is not only a leading physician of Indiana, but stands as a representative of one of the old and honored families of the state, the name having been identified with the annals of American history from pre-Revolu- tionary times and having ever stood for the stanchest integrity and honor in all the relations of life. The Doctor is a native of Franklin county, having been born near Laurel, on the 17th of February, 1846, a son of James A. and Hannah (Palmer) Derbyshire.
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The Derbyshire family is of stanch old English stock, and records extant show that representatives of the name settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, prior to the war of the Revolution, the old family homestead having been located near the town of Yardley, that county. In this old Pennsylvania homestead both the grandfather and the father of the Doctor were born. The former, Alexander D. Derbyshire, passed his entire life in his native county, and he died in the old ancestral home mentioned. He was a weaver by trade, but he devoted the greater part of his life to agricult- ural pursuits.
James Alexander Derbyshire, the father of the Doctor, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of April, 1817, the son of Alexan- der Derbyshire, who was likewise a native of the same county, as has already been noted, his death occurring at the age of sixty-five years, while his wife passed away when James A. was a child of but three years. On the old home- stead James A. Derbyshire grew to maturity, receiving such educational advantages as were afforded by the public schools, and preparing himself for the active duties of life by learning the trade of carpenter. In 1836 his brother-in-law, Joel Palmer, came from Pennsylvania to Indiana to engage in the construction of the Whitewater canal, and in connection with this work Mr. Derbyshire was induced to come to the state in the succeeding year, 1837. His brother-in-law was a contractor, and Mr. Derbyshire found employment with him, being engaged in the construction of locks and bridges on the canal, continuing to be thus employed until work on the canal was suspended. He then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, having for several years carried on farming operations on rented land in Posey town- ship, Franklin county, where he has ever since continued to reside. In 1846 he purchased his present farm, which is located on section 20, and his enter- prise and sound judgment conserved the success of his efforts, and he has been long recognized as one of the representative men of the county, being held in the highest confidence and esteem in the community where he has so long resided.
In the year 1842 was solemnized the marriage of James A. Derbyshire and Hannah Palmer, daughter of Ephraim Palmer, and they became the parents of seven children, two of whom are now deceased. We here give a brief record concerning the children: Oscar is a resident of Laurel, this county; Ephraim is the immediate subject of this review; Albert and Alexan- der are residents of the state of Oregon; Caroline is the wife of Prof. Felix Shelling, of the University of Pennsylvania; Elizabeth became the wife of John Withers, and her death occurred several years ago; and William P. died. in infancy. Mrs. Derbyshire had been in declining health for some time, and in the hope of relief she went to California in 1886, being shortly afterward.
Jonas Gaar.
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joined by her husband. They continued to reside in California for a year, but with no appreciable or permanent benefit to the health of Mrs. Derby- shire. They accordingly returned to their home in Indiana, and the devoted wife and mother survived but a short time after her arrival, her death occur- ring in Connersville.
In his political adherency Mr. Derbyshire has long rendered a stanch allegiance to the Republican party and the principles and policies for which it stands sponsor. He was originally a Democrat, but left the ranks of that party at the time of the organization of the Republican party and gave his support to its presidential candidate, John C. Fremont. In earlier years he took quite an active part in local political affairs, and served for some time as a justice of the peace. In his religious views he holds to the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a member. Fraternally he has been long and conspicuously identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being one of the oldest members of that organization in the state. He was initiated into its mysteries in 1839, and has thus been a member for the long term of sixty years. He has on many occasions represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the state, having been a delegate as lately as 1898. On this occasion he received much attention and fraternal deference as a veteran member of the order and as the oldest representative present. Mr. Derbyshire has ever been held in the highest esteem in the community, has ordered his life on a high plane, and is honored as one of the venerable pioneers of the county.
Dr. Ephraim Derbyshire, son of the venerable gentleman whose life his- tory has just been briefly outlined, was reared on the old homestead in Posey township, securing his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools, after which he completed a course of academic studies in the old Brookville College. After leaving school he learned the tinner's trade, to which he devoted his attention for a time. His ambition and natural predilections, however, prompted him to seek a wider and higher field of endeavor. His ambition was distinctly one of action, and he determined to prepare himself for the medical profession. He began his technical studies in the line, and in 1873-4 he took the course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College. Thus thoroughly fortified by careful and discriminating study, he began the prac- tice of his chosen profession in New Salem, Rush county, Indiana, where he remained until 1880, having built up an excellent practice and established a reputation as an able and skillful practitioner. Desiring to still farther per- fect himself for the work of his profession, he then matriculated in the Med- ical College of Indiana, at Indianapolis, where he completed the full course of study, graduating with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 188 1.
Immediately after his graduation the Doctor located in Bentonville, 3
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Fayette county, this state, where he continued in the active and successful practice of his profession until 1897, when he located in Connersville, where his prestige and success have been equally marked. He has a deep appreciation of the responsibilities of his laborious and exacting profession, and not only does he keep fully abreast of the advances made in the sciences of medicine and surgery, but he is animated by that lively sympathy and geniality of nature which are so essential in the true physician. The Doctor is a member of the State Medical Society and also the district association, and at the present time he is the incumbent as secretary of the county board of health. For the past thirty-five years Dr. Derbyshire has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose work he has a deep and abid- ing interest.
The marriage of the Doctor was celebrated in the year 1868, when he was united to Miss Amy C. French, of Decatur county, Indiana. They became the parents of two children, one of whom is deceased. The surviving child, Catherine, gives additional brightness in the home, which is the center of a cultured and refined hospitality. The Doctor and his family enjoy a distinctive popularity in the little city of their home.
Reverting, in conclusion, to the Doctor's father, James A. Derbyshire, we may say that he is conceded to be the oldest Odd Fellow in the state, and on the occasion of the meeting of the grand lodge, at Indianapolis, in 1898, that distinguished body voted him a medal in honor of his long and prominent service in the fraternity. Mr. Derbyshire's fine farm comprises two hundred acres, under most effective cultivation and equipped with sub- stantial improvements. On his farm are the locally famed Derbyshire falls, which are known for their picturesque beauty, attracting many visitors to the place.
CAPTAIN THOMAS DOWNS.
For many years an active factor in the industrial interests of Conners- ville, Captain Thomas Downs, through his diligence, perseverance anti busi- ness ability acquired a handsome competence, and also contributed to the general prosperity through the conduct of enterprises which furnished employ- ment to many. Reliability in all trade transactions, loyalty to all duties of citizenship, fidelity in the discharge of every trust reposed in him,-these are his chief characteristics, and through the passing years they have gained to him the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellow townsmen.
Captain Downs was born in Anderson, Indiana, and is of Irish descent; but at an early day the family was founded in America, and the grandfather, Thomas Downs, removed from his native state of Maryland to Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1800. Thirty years later he became a resident of Franklin county, Indiana, where he continued farming, which he had made
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his life work until called to his final rest. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ruth House, was a native of Kentucky, and in their family were three sons and two daughters. Hezekiah Downs, the father of the Captain, was born in Kentucky in 1818, and went with his parents to Rush county at the age of twelve. Through much of his life he followed farming in Madison county, this state, but in 1862 brought his family to Connersville and here his last days were passed. He died in 1882, at the age of sixty-four years.
Captain Downs received his scholastic training in Madison county, and in May, 1862, when only sixteen years of age enlisted, at Anderson, for serv- ice in the civil war, becoming a member of Company K, Fifty-fourth Indiana Infantry. On the expiration of his three-months term he re-enlisted, Octo- ber 2, 1862, becoming a member of Company K, Sixteenth Indiana Infantry, continuing at the front until November 10, 1865, when, the war having ended, he was honorably discharged at Vicksburg. He was with the Army of the Cumberland and participated in the Vicksburg campaign and the Red river expedition. After the former he was ill for three months with typhoid fever, but with this exception he was always found at his post of duty, faith- fully performing every service allotted to him, whether upon the field of bat- tle or on the picket line during the silent watches of the night.
When the country no longer needed his services Captain Downs came to Connersville, where he has since made his home. For many years he engaged in contracting and building. He was alone in business until January 1, 1874, when he became a member of the firm of Andre, Stewart & Com- pany, contractors and builders and owners and operators of a planing-mill. A year later he purchased the interests of his partners, with the exception of Mr. Stewart, and the firm of Stewart & Downs was organized. This relation was maintained for a year, when Mr. Stewart sold his interest to Mr. Martin, and in 1877, by the admission of Mr. Wait to an interest in the business, the firm of Martin, Downs & Company was established. In 1878 they sold the planing-mill to L. T. Bower, but Mr. Downs and Mr. Wait continued together in the contracting and building business. Subsequently they purchased the planing-mill of Martin & Ready, and Mr. Ready bought a third interest in the business, operations being carried on under the style of Downs, Ready & Company until January 1, 1899, when the Captain withdrew. This firm ran a very extensive planing-mill and did the largest contracting and building business in the city for many years. Many of the finest residences and other buildings of Connersville stand as monuments to the enterprise, thrift and ability of Captain Downs, whose commendable efforts made his success well merited.
Into other fields of endeavor also has he directed his energies and his wise counsel and sound judgment have contributed to the success of a num-
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ber of the leading business concerns of the city. He is a director of the Fayette Banking Company and is a director of the Central Manufacturing Company, which he aided in organizing in IS98, serving as its president the first year. He is a member and director of the Fayette Building & Loan Association, of which he served as president for a number of years. On the 16th of July, 1898, he was appointed assistant quartermaster in the United States Army. with the rank of captain. He was stationed at Jefferson Bar- racks, Missouri, one of the largest and oldest military posts and distributing stations in the country, having been established in IS27, and entered upon the duties of the office August 8, 1898. He is now stationed at Fort Stevens, Oregon.
On the 10th of November, 1866, Mr. Downs was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Eisemann, of Connersville, and their children are: Florence; Susan J., wife of Charles A. Rieman, a florist of Connersville and superin- tendent of the city cemetery : Augusta, wife of J. P. Rhoads, who is employed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; William, who died in I888. at the age of seventeen years : and George, a graduate of Purdue University. The Captain maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his member- ship in Connersville Post, No. 126, G. A. R., and is now serving as its commander. He also belongs to Otonka Tribe, No. 94, I. O. R. M .; War- ren Lodge, No. 17, F. & A. M. : and Maxwell Chapter, R. A. M. An ardent advocate of the principles of the Republican party, he does all in his power to promote its growth and insure its success. He has served as a member of the city council and was on the school board for nine years. acting at differ- ent times as its secretary, treasurer and president. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend, who has effectively advanced its interests, and other measures for the public good receive his hearty support and co-operation. He possesses a social nature and jovial disposition, and the circle of his friends is almost co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintances.
HON. CHARLES C. BINKLEY.
The Enal causes which shape the fortunes of individual men and the destinies of states are often the same. They are usually remote and obscure, their influence wholly unexpected until declared by results. When they inspire men to the exercise of courage. self-denial. enterprise, industry, and call into play the higher moral elements, -such canses lead to the planting of great states, great nations, great peoples. That nation is greatest which produces the greatest and most manly men, as these must constitute the essentially greatest nation. Such a result may not consciously be contem- plated by the individuals instrumental in their production. Pursuing each his personal good by exalted means, they worked out this as a logical con-
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clusion. They wrought on the lines of the greatest good. Thus it is that the safety of our republic depends not so much upon methods and measures as upon that manhood from whose deep sources all that is precious and per- manent in life must at last proceed.
We are led to the foregoing reflections in reviewing, even in a cursory way, the salient points which mark the career of him whose name appears above. He has not alone attained prestige and success in the practice of a laborious and exacting profession, but has been conspicuously identified with many interests which have subserved the material prosperity of Indiana; has proved a valuable factor in the legislative and political councils of his state and nation; has attained marked distinction in one of the great and noble fraternal organizations; has been in that constant sympathy and touch with the work of Christianity that stand as an earnest of effective and zealous personal labor; and, while not without that honorable ambition which is so powerful and useful an incentive to activity in public affairs, he has ever regarded the pursuits of private life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. As one of the representative men of Wayne county and of the state, consideration is due Senator Binkley in this compilation.
Sixty years ago in the attractive little village of Tarlton, Pickaway county, Ohio, there was born to George S. and Margaret (Lybrand) Binkley a son to whom was given the name of Charles C. He whose nativity is thus recorded figures as the immediate subject of this sketch. His father, George Simon Binkley, was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and his mother, Margaret (Lybrand) Binkley, was a native of Ross county, Ohio,-both being of stanch German lineage, their respective grandparents having emigrated from the Fatherland and established homes in America. Senator Binkley was one of five children, there having been two sons and three daughters in the family. It should be noted that all grew to maturity, that all are married and that all are active, successful and honorable in the earnest discharge of life's duties.
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