USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Biographical memoirs of Blackford County, Ind. : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography embellished with portraits of many well known residents of Blackford County, Indiana > Part 37
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quite an extensive scale throughout Black- ford and adjoining counties, and also dealt in grain, lumber, etc., in which their success from the beginning was flattering and to which they continued to give their attention for a period of twelve years. During six of these years Mr. Curry made his home with his partner, but in 1895. on the 19th day of December, he set up a household of his own by entering into the marriage relation with Miss Florence Armstrong, of this county, daughter of Andrew and Levina (Anderson) Armstrong.
Mr. Curry has for many years taken a lively interest in matters political and in time became a potent factor in deliberations of the Republican party in Blackford coun- ty. In recognition of his service as an earnest and untiring worker in the party ranks, he was honored, in 1896, with the nomination for clerk of the circuit court, and after a lively contest was triumphantly elected, entering upon the discharge of his official functions the year following. An idea of his popularity with his party and also with the opposition may be gathered from the fact that in the above election he was the only successful candidate upon the Republican ticket, overcoming a formidable majority and entering the office with less than a dozen votes to spare. Mr. Curry's official record has been faultless, and to say that the public, irrespective of party, is pleased with his manner of conducting busi- ness is only giving expression to a truth recognized by the people of Blackford coun- ty. He has been complimented by renomina- tion and the present outlook is prophetic of his re-election by a largely increased ma- jority.
Mr. Curry is a member of the Pythian brotherhood and with his wife belongs to
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the Methodist church. As a man and citizen he is public spirited and exemplifies in his attending to the performance of any task (evolving upon an up-to-date, competent, practical and aggressive man of affairs. Mr. Curry's beautiful home in Hartford City is brightened by the presence of an interest- ing child, Edith Lucile, and his domestic life those sterling traits of character which win for their possessor an honorable and permanent abiding place in the affections of the people. The excellent reputation earned and maintained throughout his business and official career has been ably sustained as he has proven himself thoroughly capable of relations are of the most pleasant and felicitous character. Financially his success has long since been assured and now, in the very prime of sturdy manhood, he is in pos- session of a competence which effectually dispels any forebodings as to the future.
CALVIN HARRISON FORDNEY.
For a number of years the subject of this sketch has been the faithful superintendent of the county infirmary, or poor farm, and his long retention in the position bears elo- quent testimony to his able and efficient serv- ices as custodian of this department of the county's interests. Mr. Fordney is a native of Virginia, born on the 16th day of De- cember, 1833. When he was thirteen years of age his parents, John and Achsalı ( Cot- ton) Fordney, moved to Pennsylvania, thence, about 1845, emigrated to Blackford county, Indiana, locating three miles west of Hartford City, in the present township of Licking. Here the elder Fordney farmed for some time on leased land, but later suc-
needed in purchasing a farm in the vicinity of his original settlement, upon which he continued to reside until his removal to Sag- inaw, Michigan, in the year 1882. John and Achsah Fordney were residents of Blackford county for about twenty-five years, and of the ten children born to them, the subject of this biography is the only one at this time living in Indiana. . They both died in Michigan, in which state a number of their descendants still reside.
Calvin Harrison Fordney remained un- der the parental roof until attaining his ma- jority, when, on the 25th day of February, 1855, he entered into the marriage relation with Miss Rachel Kirkpatrick, a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, but for several years previous to the above date a resident of the county of Blackford.
Her parents, Francis and Polly Kirk- patrick, were among the substantial citizens of Licking township, having settled here in 1836, their home being situated on Lick creek, a few miles south of the county seat. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Fordney engaged in the pursuit of agriculture on rented land, and subsequently succeeded in obtaining the old Kirkpatrick homestead, which he farmed for a number of years with a fair amount of success. Later he dis- posed of the farm, while residing in Hart- ford City. He was first appointed to take charge of the county farm in 1886 by the board of commissioners, composed of Henry Schroyer, James Pettinger and Oliver Woodward, and for a period of three years thereafter discharged the duties incident to the position in such a manner as to com- mend him to the county as the most pains- taking and capable man who had up to that time exercised control of the place. At his suggestion various improvements were in-
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augurated, including tile drainage, plant- ing of an orchard, repairing of buildings and a general system of sanitation, the be- neficent results of which were soon made apparent in the greatly increased health and happiness of the inmates and a larger rev- enne from the successful cultivation of the lands. At the expiration of his official term Mr. Fordney returned to Hartford City. where for a period of ten years he was en- gaged in operating an ice plant, having also been connected a part of the time in the livery business and draying.
Upon the election of a new board of county commissioners Mr. Fordney . was again solicited to take charge of the county farm, which after mature deliberation he did, the position coming to him unsought, and that, too, by a board to whom he was op- posed in politics.
Immediately upon accepting the superin- tendency the second time Mr. Fordney brought to the attention of the board the necessity of certain improvements, which he was authorized to make. Among these is the large and commodious two-story brick dwel- ling, consisting of thirty-six rooms, erected at a cost of $7,000. In its general plan and appointments this structure is a model of its kind, and compares well with any like build- ing of similar size and cost in the state. Additional to the above Mr. Fordney, by a successful system of tile drainage, has added a number of acres to the cultivable area of the farm, besides replacing the old and worn out fencing by fences of the latest pattern, thus giving to the place a new and greatly improved appearance. At this time there are twenty inmates at the farm, the majority of whom proved almost self sup- porting by reason of services rendered, while the condition of the less fortunate are
so carefully looked after that they appear happy and contented with their surround ings.
In politics Mr. Fordney is a Democrat, but, as already stated, he commands the re- spect of all, irrespective of party. At the earnest solicitation of the Republican board he was induced to accept the place he now so creditably fills, and that. too, as a suc- cessor to a Republican party-worker, whose removal was brought about by reason of services inefficiently performed. Mr. Ford- ney possesses business ability of a high order, and he manages the farm, looking after every detail as if the enterprise were his own private concern. He permits nothing to intervene between himself and duty, and his efforts in behalf of the poor unfortunates are heartily seconded by his good wife, who has proved herself in every respect a most popular and efficient matron of the female department.
Mr. and Mrs. Fordney have one child, a son, Francis Marion Fordney, who at this time operates the ice plant at Hartford City. the father also retaining his interest in the same. The family stands high in the estima- tion of a large circle of friends in Hartford City, and it is eminently fitting to class them with the representative citizens of the county of Blackford.
HON. ARTHUR F. KINSLEY.
Hon. Arthur Ferdinand Kinsley, mayor of Hartford City, Blackford county, Indi- ana, was born in Shelby county, Indiana. April 5, 1858, and is a son of Augustus E. and Harriet (Lisher) Kinsley, both natives of Indiana and whose marriage took place
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in Shelby county. The father was of a lit- erary turn of mind and a well-known per- sonage in his community until his death, which occurred in May, 1865; his widow is now a resident of Hartsville, Bartholomew county, this state. They were the parents of eleven children, to whom and the widow the father was able to bequeath three hun- dred acres of land, and he passed away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics a Republican, honored by all who knew hi.n.
Arthur F. Kinsley, who was the sixth born of the above named family of eleven children, remained on the home place until fourteen, attending the local school in the meanwhile, and then went to Hartsville. passed a year in the United Brethren College, and before he had reached sixteen had taught a year in Hancock county. He then resumed his studies in school, pursued then with avidity until twenty-two years old, availing himself, however, of an opportunity to teach two winters during this period. Un- til 1886 he continued his pedagogic career, winning commendation in all quarters, and finally engaged in merchandising at Free- port until 1889, when he came to Hartford City and embarked in the livery business, which he followed with success until 1894, when he sold out and has since been inter- ested in the management of the affairs of the city. Mr. Kinsley first made a venture as a public officer in 1891, when he served one year as city marshal; from 1896 to 1898 he was chairman of, the Republican county central committee, and in 1896 he was elected mayor of the city and re-elected in 1898.
Mr. Kinsley married, in Decatur county, Indiana, in 1881, Miss Irene Tyner, who was born in that county September 6, 1860, and is a daughter of Capt. W. II. and
Nancy (Sloan) Tyner, both natives of In- diana. Of the four children born to this happy marriage, Gladys, the first born, is deceased; Guy, Garnet and Gertrude still survive. The mother is a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the faith of which church the parents are rearing their children. Fraternally Mr. Kinsley is a Knight of Pythias and of the Tent of Maccabees, and at the family resi- dence on Franklin street he and his wife extend a generous reception to a host of warın friends.
MANFORD MARION CLAPPER, M. D.
The ancestors of the subject of this sketch came originally from Germany and were among the early settlers of Pennsyl- vania, locating in the counties of Bedford and Lancaster, where his paternal grand- father and grandmother were respectively born. Henry Clapper, a farmer and cooper, married, in his native state, Mary Smith, and about the year 1854 came to Blackford county, Indiana, where his death occurred on the 15th day of March, 1873; his wife preceded him several years, departing this life October 29, 1869. Henry and Mary Clapper were the parents of twelve children, of whom but two are living at this time. One of their sons, Christopher Clapper, whose birth occurred in Stark county, Ohio, married Catharine Hall and in 1854 moved to Blackford county, Indiana, locating in Licking township, where he became a pros- perous farmer. He enlisted in 1864 in Com- pany K, Fifty-first Indiana Infantry, and. died at Huntsville, Alabama, January 22 of the following year, leaving besides a widow
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three children, whose names are as follows : Theodore, a farmer of the township of Lick- ing; Alice, wife of George W. Marley, of Hartford City; and Manford M., the im- mediate subject of this sketch. Subsequently, in 1872, Mrs. Clapper entered into the mar- riage relation with David Hess, who died in 1888, leaving one daughter, Cora M., now the wife of James Dildinc, a tool dresser of Hartford City.
Dr. Tanford M. Clapper is a native of Blackford county, Indiana, born July II, 1863, on the home farm in Licking town- ship. The first fourteen years of his life were spent under the parental roof, after which he went to Ohio, where for a time he was engaged in farm labor and coal min- · ing, attending at intervals in the meantime the common schools. The knowledge thus derived was later supplemented by a course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, which he attended during the - greater part of 1882 and 1883, and in 1884 he became a student of the National Normal at Lebanon, Ohio. The Doctor's carcer as a student in both the above institutions was marked by intense application, and upon leaving the latter he began teaching in the schools of Blackford county. He continued his labors as an instructor with encouraging success until 1886, at which time he entered the office of Dr. W. A. Yohn at Valparaiso and began the study of medicine. The same year he began taking lectures in the Chicago Medical College, which he attended during the greater part of the succeeding four years, completing the prescribed course and receiv - ing his diploma in the spring of 1890.
By reason of blood poison, unfortunately contracted while experimenting in the dis- secting room, the Doctor was compelled to forego practicing until the following fall,
at which time, being sufficiently recovered, he opened an office in Hartford City. For a period of eight years the Doctor gave his attention to the general practice, but in 1898 took up as specialties diseases of the eye, car,' nose and throat, in the treatment of which he has achieved a large measure of success and a permanently assured reputa- tion. The Doctor profoundly versed in his profession, especially in the departments to which reference has been made, and has an office thoroughly equipped with all the latest and most scientific appliances necessary to success in the practice. His services have been sought far and wide, patients coming to him from different places and invariably de- parting greatly benefited, if not entirely re- lieved from the maladies by which they are afflicted. His career thus far as a specialist presents continual successes, animated by a determination to leave nothing undone to insure greater efficiency hereafter, and his many friends unite in predicting for him a future of still greater usefulness. To omit from Dr. Clapper's record a commendation of him as a man and a genial, warm-hearted friend, would leave untold some of his most strongly marked characteristics. In every relation of life he reveals the same energy and spirit that have marked his professional career. In the social circle a gentleman of culture and education, a genial. pleasant companion and a sympathizing friend, at home a tender husband and indulgent father, unassuming in business, tenacious of his con- victions upon all questions and fearless in upholding them, and as a citizen public spirited and progressive in the full meaning of those terms. In politics he is a Demo- crat, earnest in his advocacy of party prin- ciples, but by no means a partisan in the sense of making everything subserve to po-
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litical ends. His religious creed is repre- sented by the simple belief of the Disciples of Christ, or Christian church, but his views are liberal and be is tolerant with all who differ from him in matters of faith. Finan- cially the Doctor has met with well deserved success, having already accumulated a hand- some fortune, including a fine farm of one hundred and thirty-three acres of valuable land in Licking township, besides business and residence properties in Hartford City.
Dr. Clapper was married, in this place, February 18, 1893, to Miss Auretta Klee fisch, whose birth occurred in Hartford City on the 26th day of March, 1873; she is the daughter of Philip and Matilda (Kline) Kleefisch, and has borne her husband one child, a son, Erskine M. Clapper.
J. A. HINDMAN.
Jay Anderson Hindman, attorney-at- law and distinguished member of the Black- ford bar, is the son of Crooks and Matilda (Brown) Hindman, both parents natives of Wayne county, Ohio. The father, a farmer by occupation, removed from Ohio to Wells county, Indiana, in 1848 and there contin- ted the pursuit of agriculture until his death, which occurred on the 26th day of April, 1878. His widow still resides in that county, making her home at this time with a daughter, Mrs. Frances E. Bowman. Crooks and Matilda Hindman had a fam- ily of seven children, namely: Frances E. married R. M. Bowman, a farmer of the county of Wells; Albert died in infancy; Mary, wife of W. H. Kreep, carpenter and contractor of Bluffton; Clara became the wife of Otto MeCorkle, a farmer residing in
Ohio; Thomas J., a railroad man, lives in the city of Fort Wayne; Jay A. is the sub- ject of this article, and Ida, wife of J. 11. Zion, Middletown, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Hindman were descended, respectively, from German and Irish ancestry and for a number of years previous to their marriage were both teachers in the public schools of their native state. Crooks Hindman was a gentleman of literary tastes, a leader of thought in the community where he lived and successful in his business affairs, being the possessor of a substantial competence at the time of his death. For a number of years himself and wife were members of the Pres- byterian church and their lives were prac- tical examples of the faith they professed.
Jay Anderson Hindman was born Sep- tember 1, 1863, in Wells county, Indiana, and there received his preliminary educa- tion in the district schools. At the age of fifteen he entered the Methodist college at Fort Wayne, from which he was graduated in the academic course in 1880, the mean- while during vacations teaching in the com- mon schools of his county. The further to increase his scholastic knowledge and pre- pare himself more efficiently for educational work, he became a student, in 1882, of the Northern Indiana Normal at Va paraiso, in which he took the teacher's course, gradu- ating the year following. With this he did not stop, but continued at that institution until he had taken a full commercial course, and later, 1887, received a diploma from the scientific department, which ended his experience as a student. For some time after quitting school, Mr. Hindman was traveli? salesman for the J. A. Ruth Pub- lishing Company, of Chicago, and subse- quently, 1889, was elected superintendent of the Blackford county schools, the duties of
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which position he discharged in a creditable manner the greater part of two terms, resign- ing in 1892. For some years previous to this step he had given much attention to the law, studying the same as he had oppor- tunity and with such progress that in the above year he was admitted to the Blackford bar by Hon. J. S. Dailey, judge of the twen- ty-eighth judicial circuit. His resignation of the superintend cy of schools was for the purpose of accepting the position of prose- cuting attorney, to which he was appointed in 1892, and his creditable record in that office was the means of his election to the same by direct vote of the people eighteen months later. At the expiration of his of- ficial term in 1896, Mr. Hindman entered actively upon the general practice, since which time his career has been one of uni- form success. He first effected a co-partner- ship in 1892 with Elisha Pierce, which lasted until 1895 and since the latter date he has been alone in the practice.
At a very early age Mr. Hindman dis- played unusual ability in the art of public discourse and while a boy still in his 'teens he complied with frequent calls to make addre. : s upon various subjects. When but nineteen he was employed by the central committees of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska to stump those states in behalf of the Democratic national ticket. He made a brilliant canvass for Cleveland and wherever he went crowds thronged to hear the celebrated boy orator, whose elo- quence had preceded him and whose influ- ence upon the "stump" added many votes to the cause of Democracy that year. As an extempore speaker he has few equals, his oratory being of that popular kind which at once commands attention, by argument logically arranged and eloquently discussed,
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interspersed with apt anecdote admirably told, and keen satire, which never fails of finding its mark or accomplishing its pur- pose. 'Add to these a fine presence and pleasing personality, both essential in the makeup of the popular orator, and a mag- netism which enables him to sway at will vast concourses of people, and the reader has a mental picture of one of the youngest and most successful campaigners that ever advocated the cause of Democracy through- out the great west.
Mr. Hindman entered into the marriage relation, July 7, 1897, with Ida B. Maines, who was born on the 20th day of July, 1870, in Randolph county, Indiana, the daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Penry) Maines, both parents natives of this state. The domestic life of Mr. Hindman is one of great happiness and content, his beautiful home on West Main street being well known to the best social circles of the city, of which both himself and wife are popular members. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason and also belongs to the fraternity of Odd Fellows, in the local lodge of which he has passed all the chairs, besides taking an active part in the deliberation of the order elsewhere.
Although embracing the law after a com- paratively short period of preliminary study, Mr. Hindman has attained a degree of suc- cess surprising to himself, and achieved dis- tinction at a bar made up of exceptionally able men. His life illustrates the worth of well-grounded principles and from the be- ginning he subordinated everything to a strictly defined and inflexible purpose to suc- ceed. By energy and perseverance in his profession he soon forged to the front, until he is now the peer of his fellows as an able and astute lawyer, and he has few equals and no superiors in the preparation and
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management of cases and their argument Lefore court and jury. As an advocate he has achieved distinction such as rewarded his efforts upon the hustings, being clear and concise in statement, logical and con- vincing in argument, rising at times to in- passioned eloquence, and seldom fails of carrying conviction and winning verdicts for his clients.
To him is accorded the honor of con- ducting to successful issue the most im- portant case ever litigated in the courts of Blackford county and receiving therefor a larger fee than that commanded by any other lawyer at the Hartford City bar. This was when he appeared as attorney in the re- ceivership for the Montpelier Sheet & Tin Plate Company, winning the case and re- covering $85,000, his fee being the munifi- cent sum of $7,000. Since then his name has appeared in connection with various other important cases and is frequently retained as counsel in places outside his circuit. In all probability Mr. Hindman has one of the largest and best equipped law offices in the state, a matter in which he takes much pride. His apartments consist of four commodious rooms, elegantly finished and superbly fur- nished, and his library, which completely fills the four sides of one room, is one of the most carefully selected and valuable in the west. Being of scholarly tastes, he has also accumulated a library rich in the world's best literature, in which he finds rest and intellectual recreation from the cares and activities of his professional labors.
Mr. Hindman is in the prime of vigor- ous manhood and with his fine personal presence moves among his fellows as one born to natural leadership. His popularity professionally is undimmed by the commis- sion of a single questionable act and with
the people whose good opinions he has ever strived to maintain his high standing has long been assured. He is what he is from natural endowments, rigid self culture and severe professional training and has attained his present position in society and at the bar through the impelling force of his own genius.
He possesses not only those powers that render men efficient in court and the political arena, but also the gentle traits that mark refined social intercourse. In all his daily affairs he manifests a generous regard for others and a strict allegiance to principles of honor and integrity, and no man in Blackford county more fully merits and commands the hearty good will of the public.
NELSON D. CLOUSER, M. D.
The professional gentleman, to a brief review of whose life these lines are devoted, is one of Indiana's eminent physicians and enjoys the distinction of having practiced the healing art longer at Hartford City than any other man within the limits of Black- ford county. Dr. Clouser came from a state prolific of great and useful men; Ohio, where he was born on the 13th day of August, 1823, the scene of his nativity being Highland county, where were passed the years of youth and carly manhood. Primarily he was ed- ucated in the common schools and later com- pleted the prescribed course of Hillsboro College, from which he was graduated with honors in 1840. Meantime, having decided upon the medical profession for a life work, he began a course of reading under the di- rection of a competent physician of his na- tive place and subsequently became a student at the Ohio Medical College, from which he
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