USA > Indiana > Newton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
USA > Indiana > Benton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
USA > Indiana > White County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume I > Part 59
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Mr. and Mrs. Cyrenius Johnson are members of the First Presbyterian church of Lafayette, of which he was a trustee for many years. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, and politically a Republican and a strong "pro- tectionist." He was for four years the county auditor of Tippecanoe county, and was councilman from the fourth ward for a few months, when he re- signed.
For thirty-one years his residence was on Indiana avenue, in the north- eastern part of Lafayette, where he reared his children. After his children married and settled in homes of their own he sold his residence and rented a
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place on Fourth street, near the business part of town, and for the past five years he has lived at No. 36 South Seventh street.
In the years that have gone Mr. Johnson has taken an interest in the development of this beautiful city, and has helped to encourage various busi- ness enterprises. Kind-hearted, of a genial disposition, enterprising and pro- gressive, his life has been a blessing to the community, and while the history of Tippecanoe county lasts his life-mark will be kept green with the many good memories that should be perpetuated.
MEADE S. HAYS.
One of the pioneer families of White county is honorably represented by Meade S. Hays, who is the youngest child in the family of Cormacan and Harriet F. (Bowen) Hays, both natives of Ohio.
Cormacan Hays was born near Chillicothe, Ross county, in 1818; in 1831 he came to Indiana and for a time remained at Lafayette, then a very hum- ble village in the back-woods. His wife, whose maiden name was Harriet Bowen, was born at Piketon, Pike county, Ohio, in 1827, and was brought by her parents to Lafayette, Indiana, when about ten years old; and there in later years she formed the acquaintance of Mr. Hays, to whom she was married on the 23d of May, 1847. Soon after this event the young couple located upon a farm in White county, and the husband at once became iden- tified with that county's history. For many years he conducted an extensive business in stock, particularly cattle, and was rated a very successful trader. Upon this farm eight children were born, and from it most of them went out into the world to begin life's struggles. Cormacan Hays was one of the best known citizens of White county, where the greater part of his life was spent.
Our subject enjoyed exceptionally good educational advantages. He was born on the Ist of July, 1865, and at the age of fourteen years he had completed the prescribed work in Brookston Academy, where he was fitted for entrance upon a course of study at Purdue University. The family home was then transferred to Lafayette and to the scenes of his parents' early youth. There he pursued a three-years course, but left the university prior to graduation, to seek his fortunes on the Pacific coast, whither three of his brothers had preceded him. Previous to going west, however, he was em- ployed for a time in the county auditor's office, and in 1887 secured a prom- inent and lucrative position in the employ of an insurance company at Spring- field, Illinois, filling the office of assistant secretary and general manager for a time, afterward being secretary. He spent three years in travel on the Pacific coast. For a time he was employed as correspondent of one of the San Francisco dailies. But at that time he cared but little for profitable em-
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ployment, being more interested in sight-seeing and giving attention to the harvesting of a crop of "wild oats," sown however without dissipation: in short, he was simply on a recreation tour.
Mr. Hays was named in honor of General George G. Meade, the hero of Gettysburg, of whom his father was an ardent admirer. Though not a soldier in the civil war, being beyond the enlistment age, he was nevertheless a firm and uncompromising Union man, and rendered material aid to the families of soldiers at the front and in every way possible gave strength and encourage- ment to the cause of the legitimate government. He died at Lafayette, in 1886, at the age of sixty-eight years. His widow still survives him and resides in Fowler. Their children were: John W., a resident of Des Moines, Iowa, where he is engaged in the insurance business; J. Jerome is engaged in the real-estate and loan business at Seattle, Washington; William F. is a practicing attorney, also in Seattle; Genevieve H. is the wife of J. P. Smith, a prosperous man of Fowler, Indiana; Charles E. is a traveling salesman, with headquarters at San Francisco; Sarah H. and Milton C. died in childhood; and Meade S., the youngest of the children.
Returning from the west in 1893 to attend the World's Fair at Chicago, Mr. Hays decided to remain here amid the more familiar scenes of the older east, and entered the law office of Messrs. Fraser & Isham in Fowler, and after devoting himself to the study of law until the spring of 1896 he was admitted to the bar. The same year he was the Democratic candidate for prosecuting attorney, leading a forlorn hope in a district twelve hundred majority against his party, yet he succeeded in cutting this down to less than seven hundred. His candidacy was for the thirtieth judicial district. He opened his present office in 1896, and he has been successful in establishing a good practice. Though a young man, he has been very successful, seldom losing a case that ought to appear in court. He has a very valuable profes- sional library and conveniently arranged office.
He was married December 26, 1897, to Miss Claire M. West, a native of Newton county, Indiana, and a daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Cook). West. Mr. West was a graduate of Harvard College, a literary man, a suc- cessful farmer, and died in Newton county in 1896. His widow resides upon the farm where he died. Mrs. Hays was educated in the public schools, the Kentland high school and the State Normal School at Terre Haute, and is a member of the Christian church.
Mr. Hays, our subject, is a young gentleman of broad culture, rich in experience, familiar with the world and a good judge of human nature. His legal preceptors are still the leading law firm in Fowler, and his advantages in professional study were of the very best. Unlike the theoretical student in a law school, he daily came in contact with those "little things" which so
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often perplex the beginner in professional life. He is a gentleman of affa- ble manner, who counts his friends by the hundred, -jolly and whole-souled, exemplary in character and free from corroding vices. We bespeak for this young attorney a bright future, either in professional life or political honors.
JOHN B. LA GUE, JR.
The well known and highly respected subject of this sketch was born in Montreal, Canada, April 18, 1848, son of John B. and Zowa (Serprenant) La Gue. His father was a native of south France, born in 1815, and at the age of thirty-five left his native land and emigrated to Canada, locating at Montreal, where he engaged in farming. In addition to carrying on agricul- tural pursuits, he imported fine horses. Six years after coming to America he left Canada and came over into the United States, locating in Vermont, and a few years later moved to Kankakee county, Illinois. He still lives there, in the city of Kankakee, and is now eighty-three years of age. His wife, the mother of our subject, was born in Three Rivers, Canada, in 1822, and it was in Montreal they were married. She died at Kankakee, Illinois, in 1892. To them were born six children, all of whom are still living, and all were born in the United States except John B., the subject of this sketch. Of the others we record that Rebecca, born in 1850, is now the wife of Emery Lucier, a farmer living six miles east of Fowler, Indiana; Louis L., born in 1853, is engaged in farming five miles and a half northeast of Fowler; Armiline, born in 1855, is the wife of Israel Bonneau, a retired farmer living at Fowler; Lawrence, born in 1857, is farming near Sioux City, Iowa; and George, born in 1859, is employed in a clothing store at San Francisco, California. The paternal grandparents of Mr. La Gue were inhabitants of the sunny slopes of southern France, while his maternal grandparents were Canadians of French descent.
Mr. La Gue was quite young at the time his parents settled in Kankakee county, as above recorded, and there he was reared, attending the district school until he was twenty years of age, and spending his time when out of school, in work on his father's farm. For three years longer he continued to work on the home farm and at the end of that time was married, then settling on eighty acres of rented land in Pilot township, that county. After a few years of hard work and good management he succeeded in making this farm his own. A few years later he added another eighty and he marked the tenth anniversary of his marriage by adding an adjoining one hundred and sixty acres. In 1888 he sold his Kankakee land and bought and lo- cated on six hundred and forty acres in Benton county, lying three and one- half miles north of Fowler, Indiana, and in the fall of 1898 bought one
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hundred and sixty acres more. This land he has improved with substantial buildings, two good frame dwellings, seven and eight rooms respectively, and two commodious barns. While in Illinois Mr. La Gue, in connection with his farming, made a specialty of raising hogs and Durham shorthorn cattle, and since coming to Benton county, Indiana, he has carried on general farm- ing. For the past five years his sons, Louis and Fred, have had charge of the farm and are adding to its value each year by careful cultivation, being materially aided by the wise judgment of their experienced father. Besides his farm in Benton county, Mr. La Gue owns some fine business property in Fowler, consisting of three fine two-story brick blocks, one two-story frame business building and one residence, all of which are rented.
Mr. La Gue was married, February 15, 1870, at Kankakee, Illinois, to Mary Martin, daughter of Tennice and Mary (Courtemanche) Martin, of French Canadian descent. Her parents went to Illinois in 1858 and came from there to Benton county, Indiana, in 1880, locating on a farm seven and one-half miles northeast of Fowler. Her father died in 1883, at the age of seventy-four years, and her mother passed away ten years later, at the age of sixty, both dying on the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. La Gue became the parents of the following children, all living, namely: John D., born Septem- ber 20, 1871; Fred F., June 30, 1872; Louis L., October 9, 1873; Ida A., December 30, 1874; Mattie M., October 29, 1876; Agnes B., February 7, 1878; Minnie M., January 2, 1880; Anna B., May 3, 1881; Nellie M., May 29, 1882; George G., March 16, 1884; Alice S., October 29, 1887; Mabel G., November 5, 1889; and Omer W., October 17, 1893. John D. is mar- ried and resides in California and his sister Minnie is there with him. Fred and Louis, as above stated, have charge of the home farm, the latter being married. Louis is also a school-teacher and expert penman, having received a medal as a prize for penmanship, at the state fair in 1893.
Politically, Mr. La Gue is a Republican, taking a commendable interest in all that pertains to the public welfare. He has an erect carriage, bright and expressive eyes, and is withal a fair representative of what the farm pro- duces in the way of men. He is a regular attendant at the services of the Presbyterian church, to which his family belong.
DR. JACOB W. FAHNESTOCK.
This well-known dentist of Lafayette is also one of its oldest citizens, having resided here for forty-six years. He was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1835, and the first sixteen years of his life were spent in Pittsburg. In 1852 he came with his parents to Lafayette, which place has since been his home. His education was obtained at the Western Uni-
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versity of Pennsylvania, and on leaving school he studied medicine under the guidance of his father, subsequently, in 1860, taking up the practice of dentistry. In this he has been very successful and has earned the reputation of an able, careful and conscientious practitioner. During the civil war the Doctor enlisted in the Seventy-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but owing to sickness he served but a short time and was honorably discharged.
The marriage of Dr. Fahnestock to Miss Marion Noble, who died in 1876, was followed by his marriage to Miss Harriett Baylis, and they have one son, Harry W. The parents of Dr. Fahnestock, Peter and Caroline C. (Yeakle) Fahnestock, were natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respect- ively, and four children were born to them, of whom one is deceased. The others are Jacob W .; Mary, wife of William Lewis; and Edward. The father was a physician and practiced his profession in Lafayette from 1852 till the time of his death in July, 1869, at the age of seventy-nine years and eight months. His wife survived him until 1894, and passed away at the ripe old age of ninety years. They were members of the Lutheran church and a most worthy couple. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Mr. Yeakle, was of German descent, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He died in Maryland, at a very old age.
Politically, Dr. Fahnestock is in sympathy with the Republican party. He is a member of John A. Logan Post, G. A. R., and of Lodge No. 55, I. O. O. F. He owns a pleasant residence on North Tenth street, which he built and in which he has lived for ten years. He is a valuable citizen and is so regarded by all who know him.
WINFIELD S. FLEMING.
Among the early settlers of Warren county, who are not now living, should be mentioned James M. Fleming, who was one of three brothers that became well known citizens of this county. He was a native of Preble county, Ohio, born June 20, 1819. His father was Peter Fleming, and his mother's maiden name was Sarah Caughey; the former was a native of North Carolina and the latter of Kentucky. His maternal grandfather came from Ireland, and served in the Continental army in the war of the Revolution, receiving a wound while on duty.
James M. Fleming lost his parents in his boyhood and for a number of years lived at the home of an elder brother, Thompson Fleming, of whom he learned the trade of tanner, and with whom he remained until he was twenty-four years of age. On November 17, 1842, he was united in mar- riage with Sarah C. Hyde, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio, and a daugh- ter of Obadiah and Sophia Hyde. In 1843 he came to Warren county, this state, and engaged in the tanning business in the original town of Lebanon.
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In 1846 he removed to Attica, Fountain county, where he continued that trade. Later he purchased a farm in Pike township, Warren county; for some time also he was a resident of Prairie township. In 1878 he went to Kansas and purchased a claim, and his death occurred at the home of his daughter, near Spearsville, Ford county, Kansas, March 7, 1879. He was a most worthy and highly esteemed citizen. In his political views he was a Republican, and in his social relations a member of the Masonic order. He had five children, namely: Ariadne J., Winfield Scott, Thomas C., Ann E. (deceased) and Laura L. Winfield Scott Fleming, whose name heads this sketch, was born in this county in 1844. Of his father's brothers, C. V. Fleming was born June 20, 1814; Dr. J., March 24, 1815; Tumes M., June 30, 1819; and Captain Dickson Fleming, April 24, 1822.
ERASMUS M. WEAVER.
Erasmus M. Weaver, retired merchant, whose continuous residence of sixty-one years in Lafayette might well entitle him to the distinction of being the "oldest inhabitant," is a native of that grand old state, the " Mother of Presidents," having been born at Harrisonburg, Rockingham county, Virginia, October 19, 1821.
Mr. Weaver was a lad of eight years when his father settled in Logan county, Ohio, where he attended the primitive schools of those days, of whose lack of all comforts and conveniences the children of this generation have no conception. The rough hewn-log school-house, with its wide fire- place, puncheon floor, slabs for desks and benches for seats, was a promi- nent feature in the landscape of the newly settled states, and nothing was thought of the long distance the little ones were obliged to trudge through woods to reach the temple of learning. The boy of whom we are writing walked some four miles to school and probably had many other difficulties to overcome in his pursuit of knowledge, yet no doubt he has since often looked back to those early days and counts them among the happiest of his life. When he left school Mr. Weaver clerked for a short time for various parties, among them the firm of King & Hitchins, of East Liberty. Elisha Hitchins came about this time to Lafayette, and in partnership with De Vault engaged in mercantile business and sent for Mr. Weaver to clerk for them.
On March 1, 1839, Mr. De Vault took in as partners Amos Brown, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and John P. Woodbury, of Columbus, Ohio, the partnership continuing for three years, during which time Mr. Weaver was their bookeeper and general manager. On April 1, 1842, Mr. De Vault re- tired from the firm and Mr. Weaver became a partner, the business being
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conducted under the firm name of Amos Brown & Company. In 1848 Mr. Brown died and Mr. Weaver assumed the business, which until 1856 was carried on in his name. The store, a general merchandising establishment, was in the block now occupied by Zinn's dry-goods store on the west side of the court-house. In addition to this Mr. Weaver had a large warehouse, which, with the entire business block where it stood, was destroyed by fire on the 8th of January, 1855. The warehouse was rebuilt and sold to Samuel Born in 1867.
At that time Mr. Weaver also owned one hundred acres of land in the city of Lafayette, a portion of which he laid out in town lots and sold. In 1872 he disposed of sixty-two acres to a syndicate, which sold twenty-five acres of it to the city, the latter buying an additional sixteen acres from Mr. Weaver and making the whole into what is now Columbian Park.
Mr. Weaver has always been a progressive man and an important factor in the public improvements and institutions of the city. At one time he and John Purdue, founder of Purdue University, gave their bond for the pay of the teachers, thus keeping the public schools open until the question of taxa- tion to sustain them should be settled.
The marriage of Mr. Weaver to Miss Fannie M. Bangs took place in Springfield, Massachusetts, August 3, 1847, and six children have blessed their union, namely: Charles, Fannie, Erasmus M., Jr., John E., Mary E. and Philip Stuart. They have also an adopted daughter, Ida Ernestine, whom they have reared from childhood. Of these children, Charles died in infancy; Fannie married Joseph S. Hanna, and they have five children: Joseph S., Fannie W., Alice H. and William P. Erasmus, Jr., whose home is in Boston, entered West Point in 1871 and was graduated in 1875. He is now the chief mustering officer of the state of Massachusetts, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and holds in the regular army the rank of captain of artillery. He is thoroughly educated in military tactics, and has been a teacher at West Point for four years, and held the same position at other military schools, as at Hudson, New York, and Charleston, South Carolina, and has been stationed at various important posts in the states.
He married Miss Elizabeth Holmes, of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1877, and they have three children living: Helen, who married Charles E. Stearns, of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1899; Walter and Elizabeth. John E. studied medicine and had only just embarked in the practice of his pro- fession when his death occurred, March 23, 1881, at the early age of twenty- three years; Mary E. married William Perrin, cashier of the Perrin National Bank at Lafayette, and they have three children- Luella, Ethel and William; Philip died July 23, 1871, aged seven and a half years; Ida E.
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is the wife of Jerome Hillingsworth. They live at Des Moines, Iowa, and have seven children,-Guy, Fannie, Carl, Fay, Harold, Mary and Florence.
The parents of our subject were Philip and Ann (Stokesbury) Weaver, the former a native of Richmond, Virginia, and the latter of Burlington, New Jersey. Five children were born to them, of whom Erasmus M. is the only one now living. The father was an architect, contractor and builder, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He came to Ohio in 1828, settling in Logan county, where he lived until the summer of 1852, when he removed to Lafayette and spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring September 20 of that year, at the age of sixty-one years. His wife survived him until February 17, 1872, when she passed away in Worthington, Indiana, when eighty-three years old. Both are interred in Lafayette. They were consist- ent members of the Methodist church and worthy people.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Weaver was William Weaver, a native of Hanover, Germany. He came to America during the religious agitation in Germany and France about 1778, and settled at Winchester, Virginia, where he died in middle life. He was professor of German in the University at Winchester. He left five children,-Philip, William, Mrs. Lytton, Mrs. Kavens and Mrs. Ward. The maternal grandfather was Jacob Stokesbury, who was born January 11, 1750. He married Charity Reeves, born May 30, 1755, at Burlington, New Jersey, and they made their home at various times in Burlington and Mount Holly, New Jersey, and Stevensburg, Virginia. Their children were: Elizabeth S., Rachel S., Rebecca S., Sarah S., Anna S. and Mary H. The mother's father was Solomon Reeves, and his wife's maiden name was Elizabeth Cox.
Mrs. Fannie M. Weaver, wife of our subject, is the daughter of Wash- ington and Fannie Holbrook (Ball) Bangs. The Bangs family in this country dates back to Edward Bangs, "the Pilgrim," who came over from England in the ship Anne, which landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in July, 1623. Mrs. Weaver is in the eighth generation from Edward Bangs and his wife, Rebecca Hicks, the latter coming over in the ship Fortune in November, 1621. After their marriage this couple settled in Plymouth. The passengers of the three vessels, the Mayflower, Fortune and Anne, were commonly called " the pilgrims of Plymouth," as they united in forming the government, dividing the lands, etc. The dates of the arrival of these vessels are most important ones in the early history of our nation. Mrs. Weaver's great-grandfather, Allen Bangs, and her grandfather, Joseph Bangs, were both soldiers in the Revolutionary war, the latter a corporal of his company, and both took part in the famous battle of Lexington and other noted conflicts. Mrs. Weaver was made a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the Revo- lution, June 19, 1894, her national number being 5869. Her daughters,
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Mrs. Mary E. Perrin and Mrs. Fannie W. Hanna, as well as her grand- daughter, Mrs. Hester Hanna Fort, are also members of the same organiza- tion.
Mr. and Mrs. Weaver are consistent members of the Second Presby- terian church at Lafayette, are liberal supporters of all its enterprises and take an active part in its work. Politically, Mr. Weaver has always been a Democrat and was a warm personal friend of Thomas A. Hendricks. He has never aspired to office but served as justice of the peace for twelve years. Socially, he is a Royal Arch Mason. Before the war he was a director of the Indiana state bank. Mr. Weaver's home for twenty years was on the pres- ent site of the Second Presbyterian church, but for the past thirty years he has lived in Cedar Cottage on the site of the house he now occupies on the corner of Seventh and Columbia streets.
During the sixty-one years that our subject has resided in Lafayette he has witnessed great changes not only in his immediate locality but also in the whole country. The wonderful growth and progress of the United States and its present high standing among the nations of the world are vividly real- ized by those who have watched its developments, and who, judging from the past, see no limit to its possibilities. In all pertaining to the welfare of his community Mr. Weaver has been helpful, liberal and energetic, giving freely of his time, talents and money, and to-day Lafayette is indebted to him for much of its prosperity. Although seventy-seven years of age he is remark- ably preserved, and his notable likeness to Henry Ward Beecher is often commented on.
LEE DINWIDDIE.
The gentleman whose name appears above is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Indiana. The family home on Hoosier soil dates from the fall of 1834, when the parents of our subject located on a farm in the northern part of Warren county, not far from the present town of Fowler. Here they endured all the trials, dangers and privations incident to frontier life, and lived to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. These venerable pioneers were natives of Ohio, where they grew to years of matu- rity, and they were married in Warren county, Indiana, October 3, 1833. The father, John Dinwiddie, was born near Waynesville, Greene county, March 12, and died in October, 1895. The mother, whose name before marriage was Matilda Buckles, was born in 1814, in Greene county, Ohio, and died in Newton, Indiana, in 1885. After a long and useful and happy wedded life they passed to rest, and their ashes amid those of their early associates. Thus were removed from the society of their family and friends the founders of a numerous people who to-day live to perpetuate their 34
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