USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 52
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 52
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 52
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 52
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When he had arrived at man's estate the subject of this sketch chose for his wife Miss Lavina La Fuze, whose birth had taken place February 28, 1813. Their marriage was solemnized August 23, 1832. Mrs. Beck, who was a sister of Samuel La Fuze, was born in Pennsylvania and was but four years old when she came to Indiana. About 1835 or 1836 Mr. Beck settled on the homestead, in Brownsville township, which is now owned and man- aged by his son and namesake. The rest of his life was passed here in the enjoy- ment of the hard-earned fruits of his toil, and year by year he added to his- possessions, by frugality and thrift, until he was numbered among the well- to-do farmers of this section of the county. In addition to owning his home place he had two other farms, aggregating about three hundred acres. The substantial residence on the old homestead was erected by him in 1855 or 1856, and is finely preserved, as the owners have taken good care of it and have made such repairs as were deemed necessary from time to time.
In politics a Democrat, Mr. Beck was never absent from the polls at election time unless positively prevented by illness, and to the best of his. ability he discharged the duties which devolved upon him as a citizen. Though he was not a member of any church he was constant in his attend- ance upon religious services and gave liberally of his means to the support of the same. He was never involved in a lawsuit, never had an enemy as far as is known, and sought to live in peace and harmony with his neighbors. His wife, who died December 25, 1895, was a member of the church at Sil- ver Creek. Both were kind and loving parents, sympathetic and responsive to the needs of the poor, just and noble in all the relations of life. Thirteen of their fifteen children lived to maturity, and eleven of the number still sur- vive. At the time of Mr. Beck's death he had thirty-eight grandchildren and.
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eight great-grandchildren living. His five sons surviving in 1899 are Samuel Johnson and Ezra L., of Cass county; Joseph, a resident of Liberty township, this county; Rufus W., of Howard county; and John Wesley, who occupies the old homestead.
The last named son, one of the younger members of this large family, was born October 9, 1858, and has always resided upon the farm formerly owned by his father. He early manifested ability as a business man and farmer and took upon his own shoulders the cares and anxieties which were then beginning to weigh rather heavily upon his aging father. Since the senior man's death John Wesley Beck has been the sole owner of the farm, as he bought the interests of the other heirs, and thus succeeded to the entire estate. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations and is identified with the Masonic fraternity.
In 1880 the marriage of John W. Beck and Miss Mary K. Bryant was . celebrated. They have three children, namely: Minta, Blanche and Lester. Mrs. Beck is a member of the Christian Union church, of Brownsville.
ARTHUR C. LINDEMUTH.
For twenty-three years a distinguished member of the legal profession, honored and respected in every class of society, Mr. Lindemuth has long been a leader in thought and action in the public life of the state. His name is a familiar one in political and professional circles throughout Indiana, and by reason of his marked intellectual activity and superior ability he is well fitted to aid in molding the policy of the state, to control general interests and form public opinion.
Long years ago the Lindemuth family was founded in America by Lud- wig Lindemuth, the great-great-grandfather of our subject, who, as his name indicates, was of German birth. He resided near Wurtemberg in the Father- land, and thence crossed the Atlantic to America in early colonial days. He eventually settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where the remainder of his life was passed. The great-grandfather, John Peter Lindemuth, lived and died in the same county, having been a farmer by occupation. George Lindemuth, grandfather of our subject, was born on the old homestead near Mount Joy, Lancaster county, and there spent his entire life. His residence, a large stone house, built in 1765, by Ludwig, the pioneer of the family, was one of the finest in all that country-side at that day. Its walls were frescoed and its furnishings were in keeping with the exterior. It still stands as one of the landmarks of the early time. It was situated in the midst of a large farm, belonging to George Lindemuth, who was a most practical, progressive and enterprising agriculturist, following advanced methods and conducting his business after the most approved custom of the time. He was the first
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to introduce irrigation and other improved systems of farming into his neigh - borhood, and was accounted a leading and influential farmer. He died in 1873, when about eighty years of age.
John Lindemuth, father of Richmond's well known lawyer, was born at Mount Joy, Lancaster county, on April 26, 1821, and at different times made his home in Gettysburg, Dayton and Greenville, Ohio, and Richmond, Indiana. For twenty-two years he resided in Greenville, and then came to Richmond, where his death occurred in 1895. For a considerable period he engaged in the manufacture of sash and doors, but after his arrival in this city manufactured picture frames for the well-known firm of W. S. Dunn & Company, of New York city. He possessed excellent business ability, and his wise management and enterprise won him a most desirable success. In manner he was very quiet and of domestic tastes, preferring the pleasures of the home circle to the excitement of the political arena or the interests of social life. He married Eleanor Huffman, who died in 1884, at the age of sixty years. They had three sons and three daughters: One son, Preston, and one daughter, Hellen, are now deceased; Albert H., of Los Angeles, California, has charge of the carpentering department of the Los Angeles & Pasadena Elecric Railroad Company; Emma E., of Richmond; Arthur C .; and Victoria E., who was educated in the public schools and Danville Acad- emy, and has now successfully engaged in teaching in the public schools of Richmond for twenty years.
Hon. Arthur C. Lindemuth was born in "Little " York, York county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1854, and with his parents came to Indiana. He was graduated in the high school of Greenville, in the class of 1873, and then entered Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, where he was gradu- ated in 1877, having completed the scientific course. In 1877 he accepted the appointment to a position on the Ohio geological survey, for one year, under Professor Edwin Orton, state geologist and president of the Ohio Uni- versity. He discovered seven new specimens of mollusca, and his report was published in the Ohio Geological Reports. He declined a professorship in his alma mater, in order to enter upon the study of law, having determined to make the practice of that profession his life work. His preceptors were the Hon. C. M. Anderson, of Greenville, Ohio, later a member of congress from that district, and Judge Jobes. He was admitted to the bar by the district court of Ohio, in 1876.
For a year Mr. Lindemuth practiced in Greenville, and during that time received the Republican nomination for prosecuting attorney, but the Demo- cratic majority in that district was too large to overcome. On September 10, 1877, he arrived in Richmond, where he has since engaged in the prac- tice of law, securing a large and distinctively representative clientele. From
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1888 to 1898 he served as city attorney and ably represented Richmond's interests in the courts. He is an indefatigable and earnest worker. His practice has been general and he is proficient in every department of the law. The litigation with which he has been connected has embraced many of the most important cases tried in the courts of this circuit, and again and again he has won the victor's laurels over competitors of marked ability, -- a fact which indicates his own power as counselor and advocate. With a keenly analytical mind, his broad knowledge of law enables him to apply to the point in litigation the principles of jurisprudence which bear most closely upon it, citing authority and precedent until the strength of his case is clearly seen by court or jury. His deductions are logical and the force of his argu- ments is shown in the many verdicts, favorable to his clients, which he has won.
For some years Mr. Lindemuth has been a recognized leader in the ranks of the Republican party in Indiana. He served for two terms in the state legislature, being elected in 1891 and again in 1893 to represent Wayne and Fayette counties. During the first session he was the recognized leader of the minority, in 1893 was the Republican nominee for speaker, and during that assembly was the real leader in the house. He studied closely every question which came up for settlement, and his wise judgment and patriotic service won him a large following. He introduced and secured the passage of the Lindemuth or corporation franchise act, also the park law, controlling and governing the park commissioners, and many other bills of lesser importance. He has taken an active part in local and state campaign work, and his able, logical and entertaining addresses have been most effective in securing Republican victories. He has been prominently mentioned for governor and secretary of state in Indiana, and his ability would enable him to grace any position which he might be called upon to fill. He possesses those qualities which constitute the true statesman, -keen analytical power, close comprehension, a thorough understanding of the needs of the people and a loyalty to republican principles and institutions; and whether in political or professional life, he will serve his fellow mnen well.
ALBERT C. FOSDICK, M. D.
One of the oldest physicians and surgeons of Union county, and, indeed, of the state of Indiana, in years of practice, is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. Though he is a resident of Liberty, his practice is not confined to this immediate locality, but his services are constantly in great demand at more or less distant points. His valuable experience in surgical cases during the civil war, and his almost invariable success in all operations, however difficult, won him fame and prominence many years ago.
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A native of Center township, Union county, Indiana, born in a log cabin three miles east of Liberty, March 5, 1822, and rocked in a cradle made of a sugar-trough, the Doctor is certainly a child of the frontier, and here he has spent nearly all of his busy and useful life. His parents were William and Julia Elma (Stanton) Fosdick. The father was born near Lynchburg, Virginia, and was a son of Captain William Fosdick, a native of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and a whaling captain for a period of twenty-two years. During the Revolutionary war the Captain was captured with his ship, and with seven of his crew who had escaped with their lives managed to swim to shore. He settled in Virginia, and in 1824 purchased a section of land in Union county, Indiana, which he divided among his sons, George, William, John and Benjamin, who later settled on these lots in Union county, his son Timothy becoming a resident of LaPorte county, Indiana. William Fosdick, the Doctor's father, came here as early as 1817 or 1818, and about a year later married Julia E., daughter of Latham Stanton, of North Carolina. The latter settled permanently upon a farm three miles east of Liberty. When she was about thirty years of age Mrs. Fosdick died, leaving four children, namely: Albert C., Anselm Butler, Stephen Adolphus (who died aged twenty) and Benajah Stanton. For his second wife Mr. Fosdick chose Miriam Wickersham, a daughter of Caleb Wickersham. The five children born of this union were: Mary Jane, who married James Hasson and died in 1897 in Indianapolis; Lydia, who married Moses Wright, of Kansas; Homer, who died in Savannah, Missouri, when thirty-three years of age; Amanda, Mrs. John L. Grove, of Liberty; and Emma, wife of Harry Faut, of San Francisco. Besides carrying on his farm the father ran a saw- mill for a time, and was very prosperous for his day. Generous and kindly in disposition, he was sometimes imposed upon, but never lost his sincere faith in humanity. Once he was obliged to raise three thousand dollars in gold to pay the county, he having unfortunately gone as security on the bond of the county treasurer, who defaulted. He was a Whig and was opposed to slavery, but he was not fanatical or rabid on any subject, being a man of gentle disposition and not fond of controversy. In later years he joined the ranks of the Republican party. Both of his wives were niembers of the Society of Friends and the children were reared according to its doctrines. He passed to his reward when he was in his sixty-eighth year.
Albert C. Fosdick was a small boy when his mother died, and when quite young he commenced earning his own livelihood. He read medicine with Dr. G. R. Chitwood, and attended lectures in the old Willoughby Med- ical College, at Cleveland, Ohio, in the winter of 1846-7. When he started into practice he had but one shilling in the world, but he was brave and per- severing, and success came to him early, as he deserved. For seven years
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he resided in Mount Carmel, Franklin county, Indiana; for two and a half years-in 1864, 1865 and 1866-was in St. Joseph, Missouri; and for the remainder of the fifty-three years that he has been actively occupied in his professional duties he has been in Liberty. For six years he was in partner- ship with Dr. L. D. Sheets, now of Brooklyn, one of the ablest surgeons in this state, and once connected in a professional capacity with Grant's heavy artillery. When the civil war was in progress Dr. Fosdick served as a sur- geon in the Fifth Indiana Cavalry, of the First Brigade, Fourth Division, Twenty- third Corps, Army of the Tennessee, under Hartsuff, Burnside and Scofield. The Doctor and General Burnside had been playmates together, and both prepared and were applicants for entrance examination to West Point, Burnside being chosen. They met on the crest of the Cumberland mountains in Tennessee, after this interval of eventful years, and the Doctor was received at the headquarters of the great general about the time that the latter took charge of the brigade, and was placed in the brigade hospital for duty. He did heroic service in the treatment of the poor victims of the bat- tle-field, and remained with the brigade until the failing health of his wife required his return home, when he resigned, in October, 1864. At the battle of Shiloh he was sent as special assistant surgeon, by authority of the war department and Governor Morton, and an operation which he performed drew a card of thanks and commendation from the chief surgeon, Jackson. For twelve years Dr. Fosdick has been United States examining surgeon, and, though an active Republican partisan, has been retained in office. In obstetrical cases he is particularly successful and in great demand, entire con- fidence being reposed in his judgment and skill. For forty years he has been active in the Masonic order, and has been worshipful master of the lodge to which he belongs. He has been connected with various medical societies and in every way has kept abreast of the march of progress.
The first wife of Dr. Fosdick was a Miss Eliza J. Beauman, of Union county. About twenty years ago the Doctor married Frances E. Cockefair. By her previous marriage to one Bolton she had one son, Elisha. The father of Mrs. Fosdick, Elisha Cockefair, was a native of Nantucket. In the war of 1812 he was on board a privateer, and at New Orleans an attack was made upon a Spanish vessel by his own ship, the foreigner gaining the victory. Subsequently Mr. Cockefair settled in Union county, Indiana, and became very wealthy for his generation. He owned the largest woolen mill in that section of the state, and numbered thirteen farms among his possessions, his estate amounting to about one hundred thousand dollars at his death, which event occurred in his sixty-fourth year. By his first marriage Dr. Fosdick has two sons: William Andrew Fosdick, who is engaged in merchandising in this place; and Horace Greeley Fosdick, now of Cincinnati, Ohio.
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BENJAMIN JOHNSON.
History and biography for the most part record the lives of only those who have attained military, political or literary distinction, or who in any other career have passed through extraordinary vicissitudes of fortune. The unostentatious routine of private life, although in the aggregate more impor- tant to the welfare of the community, cannot, from its very nature, figure in the public annals. But the names of men who have distinguished themselves in their day and generation for the possession, [in an eminent degree, of those qualities of character which mainly contribute to the success of private life and to public stability, -of men who withoutcdazzling talents have been exemplary in all their personal and social relations, and enjoyed the esteem, respect and confidence of those around them, -ought not to be allowed to perish. Few can draw rules for their own guidance from the pages of Plu- tarch, but all are benefited by the delineation of those traits of character which find scope and exercise in the common walks of life.
Among the individuals of this class in Richmond is Benjamin Johnson. His record is the accunt of a life which is uneventful, indeed, as far as stirring incident or startling adventure is concerned, yet is distinguished by the most substantial qualities of character. His life history exhibits a long and virtuous career of private industry, performed with moderation and crowned with success. It is the record of a well balanced mental and moral constitution, strongly marked by those traits of character which are of especial value in such a state of society as exists in this country. A community depends upon commercial activity, its welfare is due to this, and its promoters of legitimate and extensive business enterprises may well be termed its benefactors.
Prominent in the business circles of Richmond stands Benjamin Johnson. He was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1833, his parents being Benja- min and Martha (Grissell) Johnson. The Johnson family is of English descent, and during the early colonial history of the country representatives of the name came from England, settling on the James river, in Virginia. James Johnson, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native and life- long resident of the Old Dominion, where he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits. John Johnson, the grandfather, was born in 1771, in Bedford county, Virginia, and there was reared to manhood. He married Dorothy Crew, and in 1811 went with his family to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he died in 1857. He was a prosperous and successful farmer. Like his ancestors, he was identified with the Society of Friends and took a very active part in its work. His wife, nee Dorothy Crew, was the daughter of Jonas and Judith Crew, of Hanover county, Virginia.
Benjamin Johnson, Sr., the father of him whose name introduces this
The Lewis Publishing
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review, was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1797, and in 1811 accom- panied his parents on their removal to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he spent his remaining days, devoting his energies to the quiet pursuits of the farm, whereby he acquired a good property. He died on the old homestead there in 1888, in his ninety-first year. In religious faith he was a Friend, and in political belief was first a Whig and afterward a Republican, being firm in his convictions and zealous in support of the principles in which he believed. He married Martha Grissell, who died in 1864, at the age of sixty- seven years. They were the parents of ten children, of whom four sons and four daughters are yet living.
Upon his father's farm, in Ohio, Benjamin Johnson, the well known lumber merchant of Richmond, was reared, and in Salem, Ohio, he pursued his studies in a private school conducted by Professor Moore, a prominent educator from the east. Putting aside his text-books in 1854, Mr. Johnson. came to Richmond in September of that year, for the first time visiting the city in which he was to become so prominent a factor in connection with its business interests. He was so well pleased with the little town and its future prospects that he resolved to make it his permanent home. He had little capital, but soon arranged to go into the lumber business on a small scale and has since developed the enterprise to large proportions. In 1858, in con- nection with B. P. Perry, he established a lumber yard and built a saw-mill at the northwest corner of North Twelfth and E streets. After a few years Mr. Johnson purchased his partner's interest, continuing in the general retail lum- ber trade, in connection with furnishing lumber and ties to the railroad cou- pany. In 1874, however, he disposed of his entire retail interest and contin- ued to furnish material to the railroad, for this branch of his business had in the meantime become very large and made heavy demands upon his time. In 1893 he admitted his son, John H. Johnson, to a partnership in the business. Since then they have increased their trade until now they handle from forty to fifty million feet of material annually. While their main office is in Rich- mond, they handle material over a large part of seven states, and derive from their extensive trade transactions a good income. In addition to his lumber business Mr. Johnson is also the owner of a fine stock farm of five hundred and forty acres, in Blackford county, Indiana, where he breeds draft horses, cattle and hogs.
In November, 1857, was celebrated the marriage of Benjamin Johnson and Miss Elizabeth Barker. Her parents, Mathew and Ruth Barker, were born and reared at Newport, Rhode Island, and she was born on the island of Nantucket. She died in 1887. Mathew and Ruth Barker's ancestors came from England. Mathew Barker was a son of Peter Barker, and his grandfather, James Barker, who was born in 1623, came from Harwick, 29
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Essex county, England. He started for America with his parents, James and Barbara (Dungan) Barker, when a child, and his father died on the voy- age over. The family settled at Newport, Rhode Island.
Mathew Barker's maternal grandparents were Richard and Mary (Wood) Mitchell, and were born in 1686 and lived in Rhode Island. Ruth Barker was a descendant of John and Susan Anthony, the former of whom was born in 1607, at Hempstead, England, and died July 28, 1675, at Ports- mouth, Rhode Island. They came to America in the ship " Hercules, " April 16, 1634. Ruth Barker's maternal ancestors were Phillip and Sarah (Odd- 'ing) Sherman, born February 5, 1610, at Dedham, Essex county, England, and came to America in 1633 and settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts. Ben- jamin and Elizabeth (Barker) Johnson's children are: John H., who was formerly connected with the banking interests of Richmond, but is now the junior member of the firm of B. Johnson & Son; and Mary M., wife of Dr. Charles Marvel, of Richmond.
Although Mr. Johnson has led a busy life, he has yet found time to devote to those interests which develop the intellectual and moral nature of man, living not to himself alone, but laboring to aid his fellow men. For a number of years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Earlham «College. He is a prominent and leading member of the South Eighth street 'Friends' meeting, an elder and overseer, and a member of the board of trus- tees of the foreign missionary work, in which he takes a very zealous and -active interest. He is charitable and benevolent and the poor and needy seek not his aid in vain.
It is no very rare thing for a poor boy in our country to become a pros- perous man and occupy a commanding position in the business world, but many who have fought their way from poverty to wealth, from obscurity to prominence, retain some marks and scars of the conflict. They are apt to be narrow and grasping, even if not sordid and unscrupulous. Mr. Johnson, however, is an instance of a man who has achieved success without paying the price at which it is so often bought; for his prosperity has not removed him farther from his fellow men, but has brought him into nearer and more .intimate relations with them. The more means he has had, the more he .has done for those around him, and numbered among Richmond's most prom- inent citizens is this honored lumber merchant.
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