USA > Indiana > Wayne County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 9
USA > Indiana > Franklin County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 9
USA > Indiana > Union County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 9
USA > Indiana > Fayette County > Biographical and genealogical history of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 9
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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
James E. Reeves was only nine years of age, when he came with the family to Richmond. The school system of the county had not been formu- lated, but he received such educational privileges as the neighborhood afforded, and experience and observation have given him that practical knowl- edge without which there is no success in the business world. At the age of fifteen, being ambitious to provide for his own maintenance, he secured a clerkship in the first drug store ever established in Richmond, then the property of Dr. James R. Mendenhall. (It was established by Dr. Morri- son and Dr. Warner.) He remained with him for a year, then went to Liberty, Indiana, as a salesman in the employ of Dr. Mendenhall, who
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had opened a dry-goods store at that place. A year later he accepted a position in a store opened by his brother, Mark E. Reeves, who began operations on a small scale in Washington, now Green's Fork, Wayne county, conducting a general store, in which James E. Reeves was employed as a salesman for eight years. On the expiration of that period the brothers formed a partnership under the firm name of M. E. & J. E. Reeves, con- ducting a general store in Washington for three years, when the junior part- ner returned to Richmond and opened a general store here, successfully con- ducting the enterprise from February, 1840, until 1848. During this time he also established a cotton factory north of Richmond, and for two years he engaged in the manufacture of cotton yarns and batting. In 1848 he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became a wholesale dealer in boots and shoes, hats and caps and straw goods. After a year he admitted his brother, Mark E., to a partnership in the business, and when another year had passed they were joined by Isaac Stephens, under the firm name of Reeves, Stephens & Company, a partnership which was continued until 1855, when our subject's health failed him and he returned to Richmond.
Here he purchased one hundred acres of land on the west side of the river from Robert Morrison and engaged in farming for eight years, finding in the outdoor pursuits just what he needed to restore his health and strength. In 1863 he took up his residence in the city and in connection with his brother Mark established the First National Bank of Richmond, this being the seventeenth national bank established in the United States and the second in Indiana, the other having been founded in Fort Wayne. It was originally capitalized for two hundred thousand dollars. He was elected president, the doors were opened for business June 15, 1863, and since that time James E. Reeves has continued at the head of the institution, which has had a pros- perous existence of thirty-six years. During the financial panics when other banks have failed, it has never been forced to suspend for a single day, but has followed a wise and conservative business policy which has made it one of the strongest and most reliable financial institutions in this part of the state. Its success is largely due to the capable management, splendid exec- utive ability, untiring efforts and firm purpose of Mr. Reeves, whose reputa- tion in commercial circles is above question and whose word is as good as any bond that was ever solemnized by signature or seal.
Other business interests have also claimed his attention and have been promoted through his ability. He is president of the Champion Roller Mill- ing Company, aided in its organization, and its business is now the largest of the kind in eastern Indiana. He is connected with the Richmond City Mill Works, was one of the directors for a number of years and throughout his active business career has been most faithful to the ethics of commercial life,
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meeting fully every obligation and dealing most fairly and honorably at all times.
Mr. Reeves has been twice married. On the 18th of August, 1842, he wedded Isabella Cornell, of Philadelphia, and to them were born three chil- dren: James F., a well-known business man of Richmond; Isabella May, deceased; and one who died in infancy. The mother died in 1862, and Mr. Reeves was again married in April, 1863, his second union being with Mrs. Hannah More Ireland, née Peters, of Illinois. They have two children. The elder, William Peters Reeves, Ph. D., a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, at Baltimore, Maryland, now occupies the chair of English liter- ature in the University of Iowa, at Iowa City, and is a most able young man of high scholarly attainments and superior mental endowments, whose future will undoubtedly be a brilliant and successful one. Jesse Siddall, the younger son, is also a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, has won the Ph. D. degree, and is now an enterprising young attorney of Richmond and United States commissioner.
In early life Mr. Reeves gave his political support to the men and measures of the Whig party, and on the organization of the Republican party joined its ranks. His first presidential vote was cast for William Henry Harrison, in 1836. He has served as a member of the city council of Richmond, but has never been an aspirant for office. He was one of the three trustees appointed by Robert Morrison, deceased, to effect the purchase of what is now known as the Morrison-Reeves library. This is one of the best libraries in the state, creditable to the city and an enduring monument to its founders. In 1865 he was appointed by Governor Morton treasurer of the Indiana Agricultural College, now Purdue University, and served during the preliminary organization. Early in the '7os he was the receiver for the Cincinnati & Fort Wayne Railway Company. Mr. Reeves has long been actively interested in all that pertains to the general welfare and advance- ment of his city, and has also aided many movements for the amelioration of human suffering. He is rather reserved in manner, dignified and entirely unostentatious, yet at all times kindly and courteous, possessing those instinct- ive traits of culture and worth which in every land and clime command respect. His friends have the highest appreciation of his many excellent qualities, and all esteem him for a life over which there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
A. M. HOSIER.
One of the boys in blue of the civil war, and at all times a loyal citi- zen true to the interests of county, state and nation, A. M. Hosier is num- bered among the representative farmers of Wayne county, which is one of 5
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the richest agricultural districts in this commonwealth. The Hosier family was one of the first founded in this locality and its members took an active part in its development through the pioneer epoch in its history. The grandfather of our subject was a strong adherent of the Hicksite faith, which had a very large following in Wayne county. The parents of our subject were Jesse and Martha (Dunham) Hosier, the former a native of Indiana, born in 1816, and the latter of Liberty, Union county, Indiana. In 1807 Lewis Hosier, grandfather of Jesse, left the place of his nativity in North Carolina, and, emigrating westward, located in Wayne county amid the Indians, who were more numerous than the white settlers, for the tide of emi- gration had not then swept through the forests and over the prairies of this district. He was accompanied by his wife and two sons, and in this frontier settlement they made homes and aided in reducing the wild land to pur- poses of civilization. He died at the age of seventy-eight years. Jesse Hosier here continued his farming operations until his death, which was occasioned. by cancer in 1866, when he was fifty-two years of age. His wife, long sur- viving him, passed away in 1891, at the age of seventy years. They were the parents of ten children, namely: Aurelius M., now deceased; Hender- son O., Henry O., A. M., Mary Elizabeth, Caroline, Frances, Laura Ann, William and Minomia. The last named is also deceased. Four of the brothers loyally served their country through the dark days of the rebellion, but all lived to return to their homes and are yet faithful citizens of the republic save Aurelius M., who responded to the roll call above in 1895, when a resident of Iowa.
A. M. Hosier, whose name introduces this review, passed his boyhood in a manner similar to other farmer lads of the period, working in the fields through the summer months, while in the winter season he pursued his edu- cation in the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of twenty, however, he left home and went to the front as a defender of the Union cause, enlisting in December, 1862, as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment or Ninth Indiana Cavalry. He participated in Hood's ·campaign in 1863, and in all the engagements in which his command took part was always found at his post of duty, loyally upholding the starry ban- ner and the cause it represented, On the 10th of June, 1865, he was mus- tered out, in St. Louis, Missouri, and with a creditable military record returned to his home.
Mr. Hosier at once resumed the labors of the farm and throughout his business career has carried on agricultural pursuits. He located on his present farm in Harrison township, Wayne county, in 1870 and has since devoted his time and energies to the cultivation of his fields and the care of his stock. He follows advanced and progressive methods of agriculture, and
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his place is neat and thrifty in appearance, owing to his consecutive labors and careful supervision. In 1898 he further improved his property by the erection of a substantial and tasteful residence.
On the 25th of March, 1869, Mr. Hosier married Miss Rebecca E., daughter of Benjamin and Rachel (Myers) Hamm, natives of Berks county, Pennsylvania. His father died at the age of eighty-five, the mother when eighty-six years of age. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hosier have been born four children: Credwell, born May 12, 1873; Roscoe P., born May 31, 1880; Frederick M., born January 5, 1884; and Scott H., born October 31, 1885.
In his political views Mr. Hosier has always been a stanch Republican, and on that ticket was elected in 1894 to the position of township trustee, in which position he has served most acceptably since August, 1895. He was at one time a member of Colonel M. D. Leason Post, at Jacksonburg, but the organization disbanded some years since. He is a man of very genial temperament, and this quality renders him an agreeable companion.
OLIVER L. VORIS.
Professor Oliver L. Voris, the efficient and popular principal of the Hagerstown high school, is a native of this state, his birth having taken place in Switzerland county, May 21, 1859. His paternal grandfather, Major Cornelius Voris, was a native of Kentucky, whence he removed to Switzer- land county at an early period, becoming one of its founders and influential citizens. Our subject's father, Joseph Voris, was born in 1825, in the county named, and after passing his entire life in that section, was called to his reward on the 8th of December, 1898. The wife and mother, whose maiden name was Mary Van Nuys, is still living at the old homestead. Of their ten children, eight sons and two daughters, seven are yet living, and at different times all have been engaged in teaching. Joseph H. is in charge of the scientific branches in the Huntington high school; Peter V. was superintend- dent of the Hagerstown schools for five years; John A. is now engaged in farming in Johnson county, Indiana; Harvey B. resides on a farm near his father's old homestead; Cornelius A. is carrying on a portion of the parental estate; and Rose E. is with her mother in the old home.
In his early years Professor Oliver L. Voris lived on a farm and received his preliminary education in the district schools. In 1881 he entered the Terre Haute State Normal School, where he was graduated seven years later. In the meantime, as he had been obliged to pay his own way through school, he had spent considerable time in teaching, which method was not without its peculiar advantages, though it was not a matter of preference with him. Two of his brothers, Peter V. and the youngest, likewise were graduated in the same institution. In the course of his career as an educator Professor
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Voris has taught in the district schools of his native county three years; was two years in Boone county; then taught in the schools at Lebanon, Indiana, for one year; for two years was principal of the Centerville high school, and for six years was the superintendent of the schools there. His connection with the Hagerstown high school dates from the beginning of the school year of 1898, and marked changes for the better have been inaugurated here in the interim. He is a ripe scholar and assiduous student, and to his well directed energy and zeal is due, in large measure, the excellence of the high school, which now ranks with the best in the state.
The marriage of Professor Voris and Miss Carrie S. Peitsmyer, a native of Warren county, Ohio, was celebrated in 1891. Mrs. Voris, who for ten years was successfully engaged in teaching in Wayne county prior to her mar- riage, was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends, but is now identified with the Presbyterian church, as is the Professor. They are the parents of one child, a daughter named Edna. Their home is a happy and attractive one, where warm-hearted hospitality is always to be found by their numerous friends.
WILLIAM D. REID.
William D. Reid, who is one of the best known citizens of Richmond, comes of good old Protestant Irish stock, his ancestors having been promi- nent and influential in county Donegal, Ireland. His great-grandfather, John Reid, was born in the early part of last century, and spent his whole life in Donegal, his native county.
His son, Patrick, the next in the line of descent, was born near Church- town, in the same county, in 1744, and for a period of forty years was the presiding elder in the Episcopal church of that place. In 1822 he emigrated to the United States, and for the following seven years he resided near Wil- mington, Delaware, whence he then removed to a farm one and a half miles north of Richmond. He had learned the trade of a stone-mason, but after coming to this locality he devoted himself exclusively to agriculture. In the Richmond Episcopal church he was the first communicant, and was ever afterward one of the most influential members. A thorough Bible scholar, -one of the best in the country, in fact, -few cared to meet him in an argu- ment, and many a minister, even, was defeated by him when discussions arose as to the truths and doctrines presented in the Scriptures. Yet for his day he was liberal in his views, and was the possessor of an extensive fund of general knowledge and information. He lived to the extreme age of . ninety-six years, dying in 1840.
His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth McCauley, and all of their children, were born in county Donegal. The children were five in number, namely: Francis, Eleanor, Sarah, Alexander and Jane, and all are deceased.
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Sarah, the wife of William Donan, started to come to the United States in 1812, but was taken prisoner by the British (as war had been declared between the two countries) and was kept at St. Johns, Newfoundland, until after the decisive battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815, after which she went to Wilmington, Delaware. Her husband died in 1828, and she never married again, though she lived until 1890, when she died at Port Orange, Florida.
Alexander Reid, the father of our subject, was a man of high standing in Donegal, taking a leading part in local affairs. After the famous rebellion of 1798, in Ireland, he was appointed by the government to collect the arms and ammunition of the defeated insurgents, and discharged his duties with fidelity. He cast in his lot with the people of the United States in 1821, and was quietly engaged in farming in the vicinity of Wilmington, Delaware, until 1843, when he removed to Whitley county, Indiana, where he lived until his death, in 1869. As a raiser of wheat he was especially successful, and in his various transactions he generally was prospered. Both he and his sons allied themselves with the Republican party upon its formation, and were thence- forth zealous and enthusiastic workers in the organization, though never office- seekers. Like his father, he was an earnest member of the Episcopal church, and the regard of all who were associated with him in any manner was his in an enviable degree.
William D. Reid, a son of Alexander and Mary (Hannah) Reid, was born in Newcastle county, Delaware, on a farm three miles north of Wilmington, July 6, 1823. The young man removed to this state with the family. The mother died when William D. was twenty-eight months old, and, as his father never married again, they continued to live together, as just stated. Our subject remained in Whitley county, busily engaged in farming, until March, 1879, when he removed to a homestead a mile and a half north of Richmond. He now owns a valuable farm in Spring Grove borough, and, aided by his sons, he carries on the place successfully. While a resident of Whitley county he was one of the projectors, stockholders and directors of the Eel River Railroad, which was constructed in 1873 and is now owned by the Wabash. Just fifty years to the day after his grandfather, the first communi- cant of the Richmond Episcopal church, had joined it, William D. Reid became a member of the congregation and an active worker in the cause of Christianity. He cast his first presidential ballot for Henry Clay, and has been a stanch defender of the principles of the Republican party for more than two-score years. His life has been one of modest, unassuming worth- a life well rounded, and a fitting example to be held up for the emulation of the young.
On the 15th of June, 1851, Mr. Reid married Fannie F. Reid, and five
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children blessed their union. Mary C., the fourth child, married Benjamin F. Simmons, and died in 1897. The others, Jennie E., David L., Alexander S. and William A., still spend much of their time at the old homestead, in loving companionship with their father, their mother having died in 1874. Alexander Reid, who for several years was a successful teacher, and for the past eighteen years has been a trusted bookkeeper in the employ of John W. Grubb & Company, wholesale grocers of Richmond, was honored by election to the responsible office of county auditor in November, 1898. He ran ahead of his ticket, county and state, fifty votes, a fact which attests his great pop- ularity and the confidence of the people in his capability and trustworthiness. He was married in 1889 to Anna Cadwallader, who died about two years later. Like his brothers and sisters, his parents and forefathers, the newly- elected auditor is deeply interested in the upbuilding of the Episcopal church and the propagation of the doctrines of Christianity. In short, he stands on the side of progress, advancement and civilization, favoring educ. tion, relig- ion, law and order, and whatever makes for the good of the people as indi- viduals and as communities.
ALFRED MANLOVE.
The subject of this review is a well known farmer of Posey township, Fayette county, Indiana, whose skill and ability in his chosen calling are plainly manifest in the well tilled fields and neat and thrifty appearance of his place. He was born November 21, 1840, on the farm where he still resides, and early in life he became familiar with every department of farm work. His early education, acquired in the common schools, was supple- mented by a course in the Fairview Academy.
Our subject is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the county, being a grandson of William and Prudence (Cook) Manlove, natives of South Carolina, who, with their two children, took up their residence in what is now Posey township, about 1812. After a short residence here the grandfather went to Cincinnati, with a team, for supplies, and while there contracted the cholera, from which he died on the way home. His widow and six children were thus left almost destitute in a new and wild country, but the former managed to keep her family together. She made a desperate effort to secure a home for them by taking up a tract of government land, on which she erected a cabin and cleared three or four acres. She hoped soon to get the money to enter the land, but one of her neighbors, John Hueston, a money-loaner, entered it and took it from her. She afterward married James McKonkey, of Irish descent, who entered land and improved a farm. He was a very stern man, and the Manlove children, not being able to stand his tyranny, soon left home. They were Cynthia, who became the wife of
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John Miller; Phœbe, wife of John Stevens; Jesse, father of our subject, who was the second white child born in Fayette county; Absalom, who located near Jesse; Alfred, who died young; and William, a resident of Fayette county. By her second marriage the mother had three children: Eli, Sophrona, wife of Reuben Allen, and Thomas.
Jesse Manlove, father of our subject, was born April 13, 1815, and on leaving home was compelled to work for the small wages of fifty cents per day at hard labor, but his determination to make for himself a home gave him energy, and he steadily persevered until the end was accomplished. Saving his well earned money, he purchased eighty acres of land, of which a few acres had been poorly cleared, while some fruit trees had been set out and a cabin erected upon the place. He kept adding to his original purchase until he had three hundred and twenty acres of fine land, which he placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with good buildings, including a com- modious two-story frame house. He gave his entire attention to farming and stock-raising, feeding most of the products of his farm to his stock. In early days he drove his hogs to the Cincinnati market and walked home, carrying his money with him. It often required thirty days to make the trip. Polit- ically he was an ardent Democrat, and religiously was a consistent member of the Primitive Baptist church. His life in all respects was above reproach, he was ever a friend of the poor and needy, and the latch-string on his door always hung out. Mr. Manlove married Miss Lana A. Colvin, who was born in Rush county, Indiana, January 8, 1819, a daughter of Boswell and Lydia (Hatfield) Colvin. Her father, who was a shoemaker and stone-mason by trade, came to this state from Kentucky at an early day and spent the remainder of his life here. His children were Lana A .; John; Levi; Charles; Mrs. Hannah Vernon; William; Nancy, wife of William Sprong; Owen; Sarah, wife of N. Williams; Mary, wife of James Sprong; Lewis and Mrs. Lydia A. Fouts, twins; and Jane, who died young. Mrs. Manlove also was an earnest mem- ber of the Primitive Baptist church. By her marriage she became the mother of eleven children, namely: Francis M., a resident of Missouri; Alfred, our subject; Levi, who died leaving a wife and one child; Jane, who married N. Cummins and died April 5, 1879; William A., a resident of Missouri; Lydia A., who married J. Stephens and died February 18, 1876; John H., a farmer; Absalom, who died February 4, 1890, leaving a wife and three children; Prudence E. and Jesse, who both died young; and Sarah C., wife of C. Jackson.
During his boyhood and youth the subject of this sketch attended school during the winter and assisted his father with the labors of the farm through the summer months. After attaining his majority he engaged in teaching school to some extent and followed farming on his own account. After his
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marriage, in 1867, he bought a small farm and located thereon, but the fol- lowing year purchased the old homestead of his father and has since resided there. To his first purchase of eighty acres he has added forty more, and has successfully engaged in general farming and stock-raising.
In.1867 Mr. Manlove was united in marriage with Miss Hettie R. Rea, who was born in Fayette county, May 18, 1844, and is a daughter of Daniel and Lucinda (Hines) Rea, natives of Virginia and Indiana, respectively. The father, who was a farmer and blacksmith by occupation, improved a good farm from a heavily timbered tract in Fayette county. He was a man of stern habits, but was a faithful member of the Baptist church, and though a sufferer from rheumatism he bore this misfortune with Christian fortitude. He was first married in Virginia and lost his wife after coming to this state. By that union he had ten children: Elizabeth J., Mary F., Martha S., Christian, John, James W., David D., Minerva C., and Emeline and Evaline, twins. By the second marriage there were four children: Caroline and Jacob L., who both died young; Hettie R., wife of our subject; and Ben- jamin F. The father died January 19, 1874, and the mother August 23, 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Manlove have two children. Osman R., born June 9, 1868, received a liberal education as a civil engineer and electrician and is now chief engineer at the school of the feeble-minded at Fort Wayne. Cora L. is now the wife of Elmer Caldwell, a farmer of Fayette county.
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