USA > Indiana > Newton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Indiana > Benton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
USA > Indiana > White County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 24
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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
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residence here, and the fact that advancing years stimulated his return to the scenes of his boyhood, seems a reasonable justification of this claim. Yet, if other evidence were required, it may be added that the old parental home of two hundred acres, entered in 1834, four miles east of Oxford, has never passed from the family, but has been augmented by the purchase of one hun- dred and sixty additional acres. This old homestead Mr. Nolin now owns. He retired from the active management of his estate in Illinois, leaving it in charge of his son, and returned to Oxford in 1893. Here his life is less active, though he maintains a general superintendence of his affairs, both at " home and abroad."
In 1893 he became interested as a stockholder in the Bank of Oxford, the only monetary institution in the town. This was organized as a private bank in 1893, and is one of the solid, financial concerns of Benton county. A general banking business is transacted, the individual responsibility of the bank being four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Nowlin owns a one-third interest, the other stockholders being Joseph Heath and his son, David S. Heath.
The subject of this sketch was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 21, 1821. His father, Thomas Nolin, was a native of Ross county, same state, born in 1776; was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served under Gen- eral William Henry Harrison. He was a descendant from Irish ancestors. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Richard Nolin, a Virginian, who removed to Kentucky in the days of Daniel Boone, and there married a Miss Kirkpatrick, and together the families fled from that state, owing to Indian depredations, and settled in Ross county, Ohio. The father of our subject married Miss Jane Kirkpatrick, who was a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, born in 1797. In 1831 the parents removed to Fountain county, Indiana, where they remained about four years, coming from there to Benton county, where they reared a family of six sons and two daughters. Ruth A., the eldest of these, married Jonathan Baugh and died in Tippecanoe county in 1886; Samuel K., of this sketch, was the second in order of birth and the eldest son; John was born in Pickaway county in 1823, and died in Milford, Illinois; Minerva was born in 1825 and died in Benton county, Indiana, at the age of twenty-four; George W. was born in 1827 and died in Warren county, this state; Richard T., born in 1830, is living on a farm in Oklahoma territory; James W. was born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1832: he was a soldier during the civil war and is now located on a farm at Lohrville, Iowa; Austin W. was born in Benton county, this state, in 1834, and died at the age of sixteen years.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Nolin were the founders of the fam- ily in America; they were Scotch-Irish and settled near the James river in
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Virginia more than three hundred years ago. His paternal grandparents died in Ross county, Ohio, and his father and mother in Indiana, -the for- mer on his farm in this county, in 1840, and the latter in Tippecanoe county, at the age of seventy-two years, surviving her husband for many years.
Mr. Nolin has been twice married, his first union being solemnized in in 1853, the lady being Miss Rachel Dawson, the daughter of Elisha and Polly Dawson. A year later he followed her remains to the grave, her death occurring at their home in Iroquois county, Illinois, when she was but twenty-two years of age. Rachel Dawson was a native of Warren county, Indiana, where her parents were early pioneers. For his second wife Mr. Nolin wedded Miss Clarissa Coffelt, who was born near Xenia, Ohio. By this marriage there were four children, all born in Iroquois county, Illinois. The eldest, Mary, was born in 1860 and is now Mrs. George Voliva, residing at our subject's old parental home in Bolivar township; the second child died in infancy; William T., born in 1874, is located upon one of the Illinois farms, where he is extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising; Matilda, born in 1876, married William Nichol, a prosperous farmer in Iroquois county, Illinois.
In January, 1890, Mr. Nolin was bereft of the companionship of his wife, after a happy wedded life of over thirty years. Clarissa Coffelt was the daughter of Michael Coffelt, of Warren county, Indiana, and a native of Vir- ginia. She was a devoted wife and mother whose death was mourned by a wide circle of friends and relatives.
Mr. Nolin recites some reminiscences of early pioneer life in Benton county which are very interesting .. In speaking of " Benton county," how- ever, we mean the territory which is now embraced within the limits of that county, though it has been a part of no less than three counties at different times in its history. In the early pioneer days, during the boyhood of our subject, it was not unusual for the youth to walk five miles to school, young Nolin having obtained the rudiments of an education by walking from three to five miles to and from school. When there was work to do, of course that had to be done; and when there was leisure, if school was in session, the children could go, if strong enough to brave the dangers of prairie and forest. In this way he " attended school " until sixteen years of age. But this very rudimentary education has been supplemented by a lifetime of careful read- ing and private study. Then that other great educator, the " school of experience," has proved a valuable assistant in the educational process. Samuel Nolin is therefore what the world is pleased to term a self-made man. His life has been one continual round of financial success. Obstacles sufficient to discourage a less resolute nature have been successfully met and turned to good advantage. Wholly self-dependent, he started out on life's
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threshold with a determination to win. His success, however, has not been augmented by a close and niggardly policy, since he has enjoyed the com- forts of life all along life's journey, and no unfortunate ever left his door unfed. He is generous toward the poor, and hospitality is a ruling character- istic of his nature. As a proof of his modest possessions in 1840, he being then twenty-one years old, he authoritatively states that his tax for that year was thirty-six cents.
A cousin of Mr. Nolin, Thomas Nolin, was frozen to death in 1847, on present site of Fowler. He was lost in January, and his body was not found until the following October, when it was identified by the remnants of cloth- ing found on his skeleton. He was a son of William Nolin and a native of Ross county, Ohio.
JOHN CONN CLARY.
About sixty-five years ago, John Conn Clary came to Logansport, Indi- ana, and during most of the intervening period his history has been con- nected with that of this section. He has been a witness of the great and momentous changes which have taken place, as the land has gradually been improved, as villages have sprung into existence, and prosperity has settled here as an abiding guest.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Vachel Clary, was a resident of Greenville, Ohio, and his children were five in number, namely: Vachel, Daniel, Isaac, John and Hiram. His son, John Briggs, married Annie New- kirk, and John Conn was their third child, the others being called respectively Isaac Newton, Margaret, Rachel Ann and William. Mrs. Clary prior to her marriage resided in Darke county, Ohio, and came to Rush county, Indiana, with her parents and brothers, John, Shipman and Cyrus.
The birth of John Conn Clary occurred in Rush county, this state, Sep- tember 18, 1824, and when he was about ten years of age he removed to Logansport, where his home continued to be until he was married. At that time he settled upon a farm two and a half miles north of the town, and afterward he located upon another homestead in the same vicinity, managing that place until 1860. During the next four years he carried on a farm in Harrison township, Pulaski county, which place he finally exchanged for a farm near Royal Center, Indiana. For a short time he was a resident of Logansport, and then, getting the western "fever," he went to Arkansas. He soon returned to Logansport, but later went to Nebraska, only to come again finally to Indiana.
The first marriage of Mr. Clary took place in 1846, the lady of his youth- ful choice being Susanna Foy. Their eldest born, Francis Marion, died at
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Loudon, Tennessee, while serving in the Union army; Devern Ferdinand died when in his seventeenth year; Elbert Elihu, born October 22, 1855, married, December 21, 1877, Nevada Belle Williams, daughter of Joseph Williams, and their children are George Bertram, born January 8, 1882; Laura Jane, August 12, 1887; and Harvey Foy, born April 18, 1897. Elbert E. Clary was elected a commissioner of this county on the Democratic ticket in 1896, and is still occupying that position, to the entire satisfaction of his con- stituents. Silvina, the next child of our subject, married James Wilson, and has passed away. Mary Jane became the wife of James Whipple and is liv- ing in Ohio. For a second wife John Conn Clary chose Miss Narcissa Woods, and their two sons, John Thomas and Bertram, are citizens of Logansport.
On the 4th of October, 1898, Mr. Clary and Mrs. Susanna Ballinger, widow of W. R. Ballinger, were united in marriage. She is a daughter of John and Mary Sutton, who represent two of the pioneer families of this county. W. R. Ballinger came to Pulaski county with his parents in April, 1839, and located upon the south side of the Tippecanoe river, two miles above Winamac. In 1871 he removed to his farm in sections 20 and 29, Harrison township, and at the time of his death he owned one hundred and eighty-eight acres here. He was a citizen who was held in the highest respect by all who knew him, and in all of his relations with his fellows his course in life was marked by uprightness and sincerity. He was identified with the Odd Fellows and Masons and was a consistent member of the Christian church.
CHARLES H. BECK.
Charles H. Beck, senior partner in the firm of Beck & Frasch, grocers in Lafayette, was born in this city December 13, 1858, and reared on his father's farm. He attended the district school and assisted his father until he was twenty years of age, when he began clerking in a grocery store. He continued in that position about eight years, when he started in business for himself in the store he still occupies on Main street. Three years later, in 1885, he took in Henry Frasch as a partner and the firm has been doing a good business ever since. Both gentlemen are known as capable, energetic business men, honest in their dealings and reliable in all their transactions.
Mr. Beck was married in April, 1884, to Miss Caroline Frasch, daughter of John and Dorothy (Goerke) Frasch. Although they have no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Beck have taken to raise four of Mrs. Beck's deceased sister's children, who found with them a happy home. Our subject is a Republican in his political belief, and with his wife is a member of the
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Lutheran church. He owns three buildings in the city and has prospered in worldly affairs.
The parents of Mr. Beck were Lucas and Catherine (Wile) Beck, natives of Germany, who came to America in 1838, locating in Lafayette. The father was a shoemaker by trade and later took up gardening. He retired from active life some five years ago, and with his estimable wife is spending the eventide of life in peace and comfort on his farm two miles south of Lafayette. He owns considerable land and is well-to-do. He and his wife are members of the German Methodist church. Six children were born to them, of whom four are living: William, Frank, Charles H. and John J.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Lawrence Beck, who died in Germany at an advanced age. He was the father of six children. Mr. Beck's maternal grandfather was Tilman Wile, who came from Germany to Lafayette. He had been a gardener in his native land, but never engaged in business after reaching America. He had five children and lived to a good old age. Both grandfathers were soldiers in the Fatherland.
MAJOR JAMES H. MITCHELL.
There is a warm place in the heart of every patriotic American citizen for each one of the boys in blue, who nobly fought and suffered untold hard- ships in the sunny south, in order that the Union might be preserved. One of those heroes is the subject of this review. He was a young man of barely twenty years when he left home and his opening business career to follow the stars and stripes to victory, and from almost the beginning of the war until its close he was found faithful at his post of duty. From time to time he was pro- moted for gallant and distinguished bravery, until he was made major by bre- vet, by President Lincoln, and six months before Lee's surrender was commis- sioned major. Since the battle clouds of the civil war rolled away he has enjoyed the peace and prosperity which he so richly deserves, and during this long period has been one of the esteemed citizens of Lafayette.
The Mitchell family of which the Major is a most worthy representative originated in Scotland, and the progenitor of this branch in the United States settled in New Jersey. William Mitchell, our subject's father, was a native of that state, as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Emma J. Far- num. Her paternal ancestors, the Farnums, were English people, who lived some time in Holland, at an early day, and thence sailed for America, taking up their abode in Virginia, whence they drifted to Maryland and thence to New Jersey.
The birth of Major Mitchell occurred in Philadelphia, March 19, 1841, and while he was a child the family removed to the vicinity of Hoboken, New
James to fetchell
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Jersey. There he spent his youth and received a public-school education. August 6, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Eighty-first Penn- sylvania Volunteers, and ere long was promoted to corporal, then duty-ser- geant, then first sergeant or orderly. September 1, 1862, he became second lieutenant and served on the staff of Brigadier-General Caldwell. Later he was transferred to General Hancock's staff, being a member of the same for a year. March 20, 1864, he was promoted to be the captain of Company D of his old regiment, and on the 12th of the following October was commissioned major of the same regiment, which was a part of the gallant Army of the Potomac. At the battle of Ream's Station, Virginia, the young officer did conspicuous service and while leading a body of soldiers to recapture a can- non between the lines, was severely wounded in the left arm, a portion of the bone being shot away. It was for his notable conduct on this occasion that the president paid him the graceful honor of brevetting him major. Among the numerous battles and military operations in which he was engaged the following may be mentioned: Siege of Yorktown, Seven Pines, Peach Or- chard, White Oak Swamps, Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, Deep Bottom, siege of Petersburg, Ream's Station, Sailors' Creek and Appomat- tox, where the Confederate forces acknowledged their defeat, after four years of splendid resistence for the cause in which they firmly believed. The Major's regiment was constantly in the thickest of the fights, as it belonged to the gallant old Second Corps of the grand Army of the Potomac, upon which fell the severest and most continuous work, perhaps, of any of the various military divisions.
At the time that he went to the war young Mitchell was learning the car- penter's trade, and as his parents had removed to Lafayette during his absence he joined them and resumed his former vocation. His father is still living in this city and is now in his seventy-sixth year, but the mother died about twelve years ago. Of their seven children, James H. is the eldest.
A few years after the war Mr. Mitchell was made deputy street commis- sioner of Lafayette, and served as such for three years, then being appointed government storekeeper under Garfield in the distillery here, which burned about a year afterward. He then accepted a position as lumber inspector at the Lafayette Car Works, remaining with this concern several years, and then held a similar place with the Indianapolis Car Works for two years. Subsequently he engaged in the sawmill business, purchasing and selling lum- ber in wholesale quantities. He followed this calling up to 1894, when he was elected city treasurer of Lafayette, for a term of four years. The same care and fidelity which he had always exercised in his private business affairs he mani- fested in this responsible office, and with one accord his political antagonists
14
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and own party friends unite in pronouncing his management of the finances of the city as deserving of unqualified praise. He has always been an ardent Republcian, and at the time that he was the choice of its people for council- man enjoyed the honor of being the only Republican ever thus elected in the first ward of Lafayette. In company with Mr. Burt, under the firm name of the Diamond Flint Company, he is interested in the quarrying of a supe- rior kind of flint rock or flint gravel at a point about fifteen miles from this city. This flint rock is used for the paving of streets and is undoubtedly the finest for the purpose ever utilized, as it possesses all of the properties required, hardness and toughness, and ability to resist the disintegrating action of frost and water.
Major Mitchell is past commander of the John A. Logan Post, No. 3, G. A. R., and is now serving as a member of the council of administration, department of the Indiana state Grand Army of the Republic. He also is a member of the Indiana Legion of Honor; for twenty years has been identified with the order of Red Men; is a charter member of Curran Lodge, No. III, Knights of Pythias; is a Mason of the thirty-second degree and a member of the Mystic Shrine and is associated with the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order, belonging to Unity Senate, No. 142, of which he is past state senator. Religiously, he is an Episcopalian.
In 1876 the Mayor was united in marriage with Mary E. Newman, who was born in Ohio and came to this city when an infant with her parents, Fred- erick and Mary Newman. Two children were born to our subject and wife, Amos W. and Estella F. The son, following in the footsteps of his patriotic father, enlisted in the Spanish-American war as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, and since his enlistment he has been promoted from company bugler to brigade bugler, First Brigade, Second Division, First Army Corps, under General Wiley.
ABRAHAM LEVERING.
Abraham Levering is one of the old and honored citizens of Lafayette, his residence here dating back some forty-five years. During this long period he has been recognized as one of the sterling business men of this community and has been foremost in all matters pertaining to the upbuilding and progress of the place. He has always maintained an earnest interest in worthy enterprises calculated to benefit the public in general and his own neighborhood in par- ticular, and his means and influence have not been sparingly used when such an end was in view. By straightforward and honorable dealing, strict atten- tion to business and a just regard for the rights of others, he has not only acquired a goodly fortune but, what is even better, has won an enviable place
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in the regard of all with whom he has come into contact. He and his family form the center of a circle of cultured, intellectual people, and his friends are numberless in this section of Indiana.
Mr. Levering's lineage can be traced back many generations in this country, and naught but the best can be said of him and his worthy fore- fathers. His paternal grandfather, John Levering, held a commission under General Washington in the war of the Revolution. He was a man of promi- nence in his community, and passed the greater share of his life in the vicinity of Philadelphia. He was a native of Roxboro, a suburb of the Quaker city, and was of German descent. He lived to the good old age of eighty- five years and was placed to rest in the family burying-ground at Levering- ton, a town named in honor of his relatives. He was the father of six or seven children. The maternal grandfather of our subject was William Hagy, who likewise was of German extraction, his parents being natives of the Fatherland. He was the proprietor of large paper-mills in the town of Man- ayunk, now included within the limits of Philadelphia. He died there at an advanced age.
The parents of Abraham Levering were Abraham and Catharine H. (Hagy) Levering, natives of Pennsylvania. The father, who was a practical and successful farmer, came to Tippecanoe county in 1854, and for two years carried on a farm near Lafayette. From 1856 until his demise he lived retired from active business, making his home in this place. He was a sol- dier of the war of 1812 and was a loyal citizen, a sincere friend, and an exemplary husband and father. For half a century he was a valued member of the Baptist church and for about that length of time officiated as a deacon. He passed to his reward when he was seventy-eight years old. His wife, who was also a devoted member of the Baptist church, died in Lafayette, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. Of the eleven children who graced their union six are now living, and of these Hannah is the wife of C. H. Gar- den, of Philadelphia; Catharine is the wife of David Morgan, of Philadelphia; and John and William H. (twins) are residents of this city.
Abraham Levering is a native of the Quaker city, born in 1833, and was reared in Montgomery county, not far from the metropolis. He received much of his education in the public schools of Philadelphia. In 1854 he came to Indiana, where he believed wider opportunities awaited him, and for several years he conducted a retail hat store in Lafayette. About 1860 he went into the business upon a more extended scale and has since carried on a wholesale trade. He has won the confidence and esteem of the general public with whom he has had dealings, and without exception his customers are his friends.
In the fraternities, Mr. Levering is deservingly high in the regard of his
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brethren. He is connected with Lafayette, Lodge, No. 22, A. F. & A. M .; Lafayette Chapter, R. A. M., and Lafayette Commandery, No. 3, K. T. He has attained the Scottish rite degree and is a member of the consistory at Indianapolis. He is connected with the Lafayette Lincoln Club, of which organization his son George is a charter member. In his political affiliations he is a Republican.
The pleasant home of the Leverings, at No. 634 North Sixth Street, was built by our subject about thirty-one years ago. His marriage to Miss Amelia F. Kiess, was solemnized February 27, 1856. Mrs. Levering is a daughter of George and Hannah (Fox) Kiess. The eldest child of our subject and wife, George K., died in 1890, at the age of thirty-three years. He had married Miss Jennie Wilson and had one son, Ernest W .; Jessie F., the daughter, is the wife of Frank M. Cary, of this city, and they have one child, Franklin; Guy P. is a medical student in the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadel- phia. The Leverings are members of the Episcopalian church and are liberal contributors to religious and charitable enterprises.
JOSEPH F. WARNER.
Among the prominent citizens of Fowler none are more worthy of representation in this work than J. F. Warner, who has been identified with the business and social interests of Benton county since 1874. In February of that year he came to Fowler and established the second general store in the place. He at once evinced his faith in the future metropolis of Benton county by erecting valuable and substantial buildings, by encouraging immigration and placing his influence and money on the side of the prosper- ous and healthy development of the town. From that time to the present he has been an important factor in the growth and advancement of Fowler, was the first town clerk of the little city and has held various other positions of trust and responsibility.
Joseph F. Warner is a native of Ross county, Ohio, born on the 29th of May, 1846. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Farmer) Warner, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Fayette county, Ohio. They had nine children, namely: John, who died in infancy; Massey, who died at the age of eighteen years; John L., who is now living with our subject; Catherine, wife of Truxton Head, of Lafayette, Indiana; Elizabeth, widow of Frank Bailey, who died from the effects of army service, her home being now in Fowler; Diantha F., who died in 1860, at the age of eighteen years; Joseph F., of this review; Levi Samuel, who died in Fowler, in 1881, at the age of thirty-two years; and Isaac W., now a merchant of Fowler.
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