USA > Indiana > Newton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Benton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
USA > Indiana > White County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
The marriage of Mr. Evans and Miss Eliza J. Scudder was solemnized January 22, 1863. Mrs. Evans was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, March 22, 1843, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Scudder. The mother died soon after the birth of Mrs. Evans, and the father was sum- moned to his final rest when his child was but nine months old. Thus left an orphan, she was reared in the home of a maternal aunt, in Carroll county, Kentucky, and came to this county when eighteen years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans were born two sons on the old homestead in Jordan township. Harry H., born August 29, 1864, was educated at the University of Chicago, and is at present superintendent of the West Lebanon schools. His wife
168
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
was formerly Miss Ida Kelley, daughter of Albert Kelley. Cyrus C., a farmer by occupation, married Miss Nettie Smith, of Jordan township. Mrs. Eliza Evans has resided in West Lebanon since the demise of her husband.
The death of W. F. Evans was a sad and tragic one, and the whole community was deeply moved and shocked by the calamity, so sudden and unlooked for. While enjoying robust health and in the midst of a prosperous, busy and happy period of his life, he was called upon to cease from his labors and enter into the wider and fuller blessedness of the "land beyond the river." On the 4th of October, 1897, while he was driving from his home in Jordan township to West Lebanon, his team became frightened and unmanageable, and he was thrown from the wagon and instantly killled. His large circle of friends and acquaintances were inexpressibly grieved, and the last sad rites of burial were attended by a large concourse of those who wished to pay a last tribute of love and esteem to one whom they had trusted, looked up to and admired in a thousand ways.
PERRIN KENT.
This honored name is indelibly written in the annals of Warren county, and few men were more prominently identified with its early development. At one time, when measures of wealth were more modest than at the present day, he was considered a rich man, and this property had all been acquired by himself, in the legitimate channels of business enterprise. His absolute integrity and uprightness of character were so well known and justly appre- ciated that he was frequently called upon to act as an administrator of estates, and never did he betray a trust in the slightest degree.
Born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, July 11, 1794, Perrin Kent was a son of William and Sarah (Perrin) Kent. The father, whose birth occurred in Oldtown, Maryland, in 1763, was a son of Absalom and Nancy Kent, and the mother was born March 24, 1770, in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were married February 24, 1789.
With his father, our subject removed from Pennsylvania to Ross county, Ohio, at an early day, and in 1826 came to Warren county, settling in that portion of Mound township now known as Kent township, it having been divided later and named in his honor. He learned the business of surveying, becoming an expert in that line, and the year subsequent to his arrival here he was appointed surveyor of public lands by the governor of the state. This responsible position he held for thirty-five years, during which time he surveyed nearly all of the land in this county, and his duties in the service of the government led him as far as Iowa, where he surveyed large sections of that state.
169
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Mr. Kent was a member of the first grand jury of Warren county, and ever sought to uphold the laws and good government. When but eighteen years of age he enlisted in the second war of the United States against Great Britain, and the same patriotic spirit ever animated his actions. Politically, he was a Whig in the early part of this century, but later espoused the cause of the Democratic party. In disposition he was social, vivacious, and exceedingly fond of a good joke, and many a pleasing anecdote is related of him by his old friends, who delighted in his happy, cheerful views of life.
In Ross county, Ohio, Mr. Kent married Miss Rebecca Dill, April 17, 1818. She was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was of Irish parentage. Five daughters and three sons were born to this worthy couple, and all of them lived to maturity.' Only three are now living, namely: John W., of Danville, Illinois; Mrs. Caroline Du Bois, of the same town; and Mrs. Isabel Hannah, who owns and occupies part of the old homestead in Kent township. Those who have entered the silent land are Charlotte D. (Mrs. E. F. Lucas), William, Sarah (Mrs. Supply Woods), Thomas and Rebecca (Mrs. R. E. Carmichael). The four eldest children were born in Ross county, Ohio, while the others were natives of this county. The death of Perrin Kent occurred January 30, 1882, when he was eighty-seven years, seven months and nineteen days old. His wife preceded him to the better land, her death having occurred June 9, 1863, when she had reached the age of seventy-one years, five months and thirteen days.
As has been noted above, Mrs. Isabel Hannah is the only representative of her father's family now living in Warren county. She was born on the old homestead within a half-mile of her present home, and in 1850 became the wife of George H. Warren, who died five years later. In 1866 she mar- ried William P. Hannah, and four children were born to this union, namely: Kent, Isabel, Alex and Abbie K. Mrs. Hannah possesses many of the pleas- ing qualities of mind, disposition and manner which were noticeable in her revered father, whom she has just cause to honor and praise.
GEORGE PFEIFFER.
As the surname of our subject indicates, he is of German ancestry on the paternal side. His father, Henry Hamilton Pfeiffer, was born in 1797, at Fort Hamilton, Ohio. But three years of age at the time of his father's death, he was reared by his maternal grandmother, whose name was Will- iams and whose home was in Philadelphia. In the schools of that city he obtained an excellent education and studied medicine. Then for some years he was successfully engaged in teaching, and having given some attention to theology he was ordained as a minister of the Episcopal church. About the
170
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
time that he arrived at his majority he went to Baltimore, Maryland, and in the early part of the '3os he came to Indiana, settling in Washington county. There he bought a farm of forty acres, situated in Posey township, and was living on that homestead at the time of his death, in 1868. After coming to this state he taught schools in Harrison and Washington counties, but did not practice the other professions mentioned above. In his early manhood he had married a lady in the Quaker city, and she died in that metropolis. Later he wedded Marie Ann, daughter of Jacob Fredericks, of English descent. Both she and her father were natives of Kentucky, from which state the family removed to Indiana. Her brothers and sisters were named, respectively: Henry, Lovisa, Catherine, Christopher Columbus, Jacob and Lorenzo Dow. The death of Mrs. Henry H. Pfeiffer occurred three months prior to the demise of her husband, her age being fifty-three years.
George Pfeiffer, who was born September 3, 1839, in Harrison county, Indiana, is one of ten children, the others being as named below: Mary Ann, who first married John Hallenback, and then became the wife of William Brown, is now engaged in missionary work in Palestine; Martha Ann, widow of John Bennifield, resides in Logansport, Indiana; Margaret, wife of Will- iam H. Price, who holds a clerkship in Washington, District of Columbia, has one daughter, Cora, wife of Emmet Lewis; Eliza, who married Stephen Frazier, died in 1898; Henry, who wedded Mary Able and has seven chil- dren-Mary, Nora, George, Oscar, Lewis, Nettie and Cora,-resides in Ohio; Josephine, who is the wife of Francis Duncan, of Logansport, has two sons and two daughters,-James, Alice, Albert and Maggie; Sarah Ann, who married John Trueblood, of Washington county, Indiana, died when in her twenty-fifth year; Alice, wife of Joshua Shields, of Logansport, is the mother of Frank, James, Thomas and Martha Ann; Jacob, twin brother of Alice (Mrs. Shields), chose for his wife Aurelia Rose, and their children are named respectively Robert, Bertha, Bessie, Edgar, Elmer and Allen.
As he was one of the older children, and for years the only son of his parents, George Pfeiffer was of great assistance in the work of the farm, and even after his father's death he cared for the younger brothers and sisters and exercised almost a parental watchfulness over them. After his marriage in 1871 he rented farms which he cultivated for a period of ten years. In the spring of 1872 he came to Pulaski county and purchased the homestead on. section 14, Van Buren township, owned by J. R. Dukes. Shortly afterward he erected a substantial residence, and year by year has added such improve- ments as he desired, thus making his country home one of the most valuable in the county.
For a companion in the joys and sorrows of life, Mr. Pfeiffer chose Miss Marie Ann Houghland, a daughter of Henry and Jane (Peters) Houghland,
171
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
and a native of Harrison county, Indiana, born in 1836. The oldest child of our subject and wife is William Henry, whose birth occurred October 24, 1871, in Washington county, this state. He is a successful teacher, having charge of a school at Thornhope, Pulaski county, at present, and having pre- viously taught the Forest school one term, the Sutton school three terms and the Burk school for one term. His marriage to Laura, daughter of George and Donna (Pickard) Liming, was celebrated October 10, 1898. She was born in this county, July 2, 1879, and received a liberal education in the pub- lic schools. John Wesley, born February 14, 1874, remains at home and aids in the care of his father's farm. George Washington, born April 17, 1876, died when but two years old.
Both sons of our subject, as well as himself, are loyal supporters of the Republican party. He is a member of the United Brethren church, and uses his means and influence in ways whereby his generation and community shall be benefited. He possesses the genuine friendship of all who know him and the respect of all with whom he has business dealings.
WASHBURN TILSON, M. D.
The medical profession has always been one which has attracted the fin- est talent of every age, and though we, the citizens of an advanced time, heirs of the wisdom of unnumbered generations, look with amusement and supe- rior disdain upon many of the recorded superstitions and practices of the physicians and surgeons of bygone days, we are forced to admit that in all ages the aim and desire of the members of this ancient profession has ever been the same,-an earnest wish to alleviate the sufferings of humanity in the many evils to which flesh is heir. This being so, society has always looked with great favor upon the disciples of the healing art, and has esteemed the practice of medicine as second, perhaps, to the ministry only, and occupying a unique position in the world's economy.
Washburn Tilson is one of the leading young physicians of Lafayette, where he enjoys a large and constantly increasing practice. He stands well among his professional brethren, and is an esteemed member of the Indiana State Institute of Homeopathy and of the American Medical Institute. Gifted by nature with a keen, receptive mind, and being very ambitious and enterprising in his studies, it was his privilege to enjoy superior educational advantages, which opportunity he in no wise neglected. Totheory he added practice under the supervision of trained physicians and surgeons of the high- est skill and rank, and when he entered upon his independent career he was thus much better qualified than it often falls to the lot of the young physi- cian to be.
172
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Dr. Tilson is proud of the fact that he is an Indiana boy. Born just after the close of the great Civil war, May 27, 1865, in Franklin, Johnson county, Indiana, he is a son of John and Melissa (Dungan) Tilson, who like- wise were natives of Johnson county, while their ancestors were from Vir- ginia. The boyhood days of the Doctor were spent in his native county on his father's farm, where he followed the usual employments of an agricult- ural life. Having completed the common-school curriculum he became enrolled as a student at Franklin College, where, four years later, he was graduated with the degree of Master of Arts. This event occurred in 1889, and his next step was to enter Yale College, where he pursued an advanced course in the arts and sciences, making a specialty of chemistry and toxicol- ogy, etc., with a view to the usefulness of a thorough knowledge of these branches in medicine. Long ere this he had determined to enter the medi- ical profession and had bent everything to this end. Returning to the west, he attended the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, where he graduated in 1893, and for the ensuing eight months he was house physician in Cook county hospital, Chicago. Having thus thoroughly and systematically pre- pared himself for his future career, he came to Lafayette and established an office. His success was most gratifying from the first, and his time is now fully occupied in attending to the needs of his extensive practice.
Dr. Tilson takes great interest in public affairs and in whatever makes for the good of the community in which he dwells. He never fails to dis- charge his duty as a citizen and voter, his ballot being given to the nominees of the Republican party. He has an attractive home, where hospitality of a quiet and unpretentious kind prevails. The lady who presides over his pretty home was Miss Frances Heath prior to their marriage in 1894. They move in the best social circles of Lafayette and are both great favorites with a large number of friends.
OLIVER PERRY CRANE.
Born August 29, 1856, in Pulaski county, the subject of this memoir was bereft of his father, Levi Morris Crane, when quite young, and has been obliged to depend upon his own resources in the working out of life's problems. That he has come off a victor in the strife, he owes to no for- tuituous circumstances, but to honest, persevering toil and indomitable will.
For a short time after commencing to earn his own livelihood, Mr. Crane worked for wages, but he was too ambitious to continue long in this manner, and his business ability speedily became apparent when he began taking contracts for the cutting of a field of grain or other farm labor. Then for six years he was associated with William Sutton (until Sutton's
173
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
death), in ditch contracting, and during this period some of the most impor- tant ditches in this portion of the state were constructed. Later his partner in this line of enterprise was his brother, Robert F., and J. H. Miller. Among the pieces of work done were the well known Miller Branch ditch, the W. W. Agnew, the Thompson ditch, the M. W. Vernard ditch, the Besson Temple ditch and the Fred Kneble ditch. Altogether, Mr. Crane has been actively interested in the building of about fifty miles of ditches in Pulaski county, the main part of this work being in Harrison township. This occupied his time and attention for about twenty years, and in the meantime he and R. F. Crane also assisted in the grading of the Chicago & Erie Railroad, and held one of the important sub-contracts for grading in the Kankakee swamp.
In 1889 Mr. Crane went to Chicago, where he was in the employ of the Conduit Wire Fence Company for a short time, after which he worked for the Frank Parmelee Company for three months. Since that time he has been employed by the Arthur Dixon Transfer Company, which is rapidly becoming one of the most important concerns of the kind in the country, and is the largest transfer company in the world. For two years Mr. Crane had charge of the transfer business of the Illinois Central; then, after attending to the similar business of the Grand Trunk road for a year, he returned to the Illinois Central, and two years later was assigned to his present task of taking care of the transfer of the Wisconsin Central Rail- road's freight. Their business has grown wonderfully, and eight wagons are now required to perform the work which one was sufficient for at the time he began transferring goods for them.
One of the prime secrets of Mr. Crane's success in life has been his general reliability and faithfulness. That he will perform to the smallest item any work which he undertakes, his employers know perfectly; and he has always commanded the best prices as a contractor, and the highest salary paid to an employee. Very recently he has been appointed private detective for the Dixon Transfer Company, his duties as such requiring him to visit suspected places and parties in all parts of the city, ferreting out parties who rob the company's wagons, etc. He merits and enjoys the respect of all with whom he has ever had business dealings. In political faith he is a Republican.
The marriage of Mr. Crane and Miss Ella Markley took place April 24, 1880. She was born June 29, 1863, in Marion county, Ohio, a daughter of William Markley. Two sons and two daughters have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Lola Belle, December 7, 1882; Elmer Franklin, January 24, 1885; Opie, Jr., October 3, 1888, and Ada Hazel, September 17, 1896. The youngest son, his father's namesake, died at the age of three
174
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
years and four months, February 3, 1891. The eldest son and daughter, bright, promising children, are attending school and qualifying themselves for the serious battles of life.
WALTER B. MILLER.
Since the opening year of the war of the Rebellion Walter B. Miller has resided upon the present homestead in Steuben township, Warren county, where he lives on a finely improved and valuable farm of four hundred acres. He is one of the well-known early settlers of western Indiana, and has long been a leading and representative citizen. A native of Ohio, he was born in Eaton, Preble county, May 18, 1826.
The parents of our subject were Lazarus and Frances (Buell) Miller. The father was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was a son of Colonel Isaac H. Miller, who, with seven brothers, fought in the war of 1812, and lost six of his brothers in that patriotic struggle for the rights of their beloved land. Lazarus Miller was a well educated man for his day, and indeed, for any period, and in this early manhood he studied law under the tutorship of the famous lawyer, Colonel Tom Ross, of Xenia, Ohio. He then engaged in practice with success in Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, remaining there for several years, serving as county auditor there during a great portion of the time, and as postmaster of Eaton. In 1842 he removed with his family to this county, and here was elected the first auditor of Warren county. Though death called him ere he had lived in this section more than five years, he had already won a lasting place in the esteem of his fellow citizens here, and had made a name and fame among the legal practitioners of Will- iamsport, in which town he had established himself. He was a stanch Whig in his political relations, and religiously was a Presbyterian. He departed this life on Friday, February 5, 1847, at Williamsport, loved and mourned by all who knew him. His faithful wife, who survived him for many years, died December 12, 1887, aged eighty-one years.
Lazarus and Frances C. Miller were the parents of eleven children, of whom six grew to mature years, and four survive at this time. Isaac C., who died in the city of Washington, November 9, 1894, was a prominent business man and at the time of his death was a clerk in the treasury depart- ment, which position he had occupied for many years. The surviving members of the family of Lazarus Miller are Walter B., Mrs. Celia Hamil- ton, Levin T. and James C.
Walter B. Miller attended the old red school-house of his boyhood in Eaton, Ohio, and in 1836, when he was ten years old, he accompanied his uncle, Dr. J. H. Buell, to Warren county, on that gentleman's return here
175
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
from a trip to the Buckeye state. During the eighteen months of the lad's stay here he went to school, a distance of two and a half miles, at what was known as the Parker school-house, with his young aunt, Ruth Buell, who later became the wife of United States Senator Joseph E. McDonald. A neighbor of the Millers in Ohio, George D. Hendricks, coming to this county on business, was instructed by our subject's father to take the lad back with him, on his return to Ohio. Traveling in those days was by primitive methods, and when Mr. Hendricks was ready to start eastward Walter Miller had no alternative than to ride behind that worthy man on his strong horse, at least as far as Indianapolis. Thence the rest of the journey was made by stage. An incident in the life of the youth is worthy of being mentioned, as it indicates not only the state of the country at that day but also the self- reliant character of the lad, then less than fourteen years of age. His father had been appointed as a delegate to the famous political convention which convened in Columbus, Ohio, on February 22, 1840; but his duties as auditor of his county would not then permit of his absence from home, and he sent his son Walter as his substitute. The boy accompanied Mr. Hendricks (above mentioned) and several other gentlemen, in a carriage, the journey requiring a number of days. It was a time of great political excitement, and our subject well remembers many of the circumstances and speeches, and that banners bearing the watchwords of the Whig party included " National Banks," "Protective Tariff " and "Distribution of the Public Funds." A presidential election was at hand and the name of General William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, was under consideration as a candidate. Speech-making was the order of the day in this campaign, and Walter Miller, though a mere boy, was called upon to address one of these meetings in a small town where their party passed the night while en route to Columbus. He bravely responded, this fourteen-year-old boy, extolling the virtues of the old battle-worn hero, his favorite candidate, and doubtless his youthful ardor and patriotism made more of an impression on the minds of those present than did the speeches of many a man three times his age and wisdom. After the Miller family had removed to this county, in 1842, it was the privilege of Walter B. Miller to attend another of those historic conventions. This one was held in Richmond, in 1842, and it was on this occasion that the old Quaker, Mr. Mendenhall, asked the orator of the occasion, Henry Clay, the famous Kentuckian, why he did not free his slaves. To this Clay replied that he was willing to do so but that they preferred to remain with him. In rather a skeptical manner the Quaker asked Clay to give the slave who had accompanied his master from home his freedom. Clay consented, and the colored man, upon being approached on the matter, replied, "I will stay with Massa Clay."
176
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
When he was twenty-one years old Walter B. Miller became deputy auditor of Warren county, his uncle, Dr. Buell, having been elected auditor; and subsequently the young man filled the office of auditor for one term, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. In 1858 he removed to Marshfield, Warren county, where he sold goods for about three years, when, the Civil war coming on, he disposed of his stock and located upon the farm which he has since cultivated. He is a man of extensive information, well posted on all of the leading issues of the day, and an advocate of the principles of the Republican party.
In the civil war Levin T. and James C. were members of the Thirty- third Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the first mentioned being colo- nel of the regiment. They were taken prisoners at the battle of Spring Hill, and were placed in Libby prison. Colonel Miller, then a major, with some other officers, managed to effect an escape, through one of the famous tunnels, at the imminent risk of his life. Mr. Miller was married June 14, 1855, to Miss Juliett Tomlinson, daughter of Jesse and Mary (McFarland) Tomlinson. She was born January 15, 1831, in Steuben township, Warren county, Indiana, and in this county she has lived her entire life. This worthy couple have had six children, of whom the two oldest-Mary Jessie and Levin Dean-died young, and the surviving ones are Zeruiah F., James M., Nancy S. and Juliett T. B. Miller.
JOHN MILLER.
John Miller, the proprietor of the Walnut Spring farm, of Wea town- ship, Tippecanoe county, was born in Union township, this county, July 27, 1842. He belongs to one of the sturdy old families of Vir- ginia, his father, John Miller, Sr., having been a native of Berkeley county, that state, born in 1800. He was a stonemason, bricklayer and farmer. He was married near Hedgesville, Virginia, to Mary Run- ner, a native of Berkeley county and a daughter of William Runner, who was a substantial land-owner and farmer and had about one hundred slaves. He was one of the prominent men of his county, and died in Virginia at an advanced age. After his marriage John Miller, Sr., began his domestic life on a farm'in Berkeley county and subsequently removed to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, locating on the Wabash river, about 1838, five miles below Lafayette. There he rented land for a time, and afterward bought in Ben- ton county, this state. Later he purchased the farm, in Wea township, upon which his daughters now reside, and extended its boundaries by the purchase of an additional eighty acres, until he had a valuable property of a quarter of a section of land. He served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.