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 40
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JOSEPH A. J. DE CHEVIGNY.
Joseph Alexius Jules De Chevigny, M. D., although a comparatively new practi- tioner to Hartford City, Indiana, has already established for himself an enviable reputa- tion. The Doctor was born in Montreal, Canada, July 15, 1871, a son of Alexander and Delphine (Perrault) De Chevigny, na- tives of the province of Mede, France.
Alexander and his wife came carly to America and found their home in Canada. where the husband, being an expert builder
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as well as carpenter, engaged in contracting in his line and became a man of means and respectability in the community, and in due time retired to a life of ease and comfort. Of the four children born to Alexander.and his wife the Doctor is the second born and three still survive, all sincere Catholics.
Dr. De Chevigny received his boyhood education in the parochial schools of Mont- real, which he attended until eleven years old, and then entered Montreal College, where he finished his studies at the age of nineteen years. His next course of study was at the Laval University of Montreal, from which he graduated in April, 1895. He was then prepared for practice, and for a year walked the Montreal hospital. after which he practiced most successfully in New- port, Vermont, until 1898, since which date he has enjoyed a most lucrative practice in Hartford City, Indiana.
The Doctor married, in Montreal, Feb- ruary 16, 1897, Miss Roseame Perrault, the young and accomplished daughter of Urgel and Elizabeth (L'african) Perrault, of the same city, and to this happy mar- riage two children have resulted, Henry and Grazella.
The Doctor is a member of St. John's the Evangelist's Catholic church, of which his wife is also a devoted member, and in the faith of which the children are being duly reared. In politics the Doctor is a Democrat, and fraternally is a member of the Catholic order of Form ers, the Knights of Maccabees and the Br: sh Medical As- sociation.
WILLIAM H. GABLE.
William Henry Gable, a retired business man and old resident of Hartford City, is
a native of Stark county, Ohio, and dates his birth from the 3rd day of November, 1825. His father, John Gable, was born in Pen- sylvania and there married Susan Shophude, moving shortly thereafter, about the begin- ning of the present century, to Ohio, locat- ing in what is now Stark county, being one of the early pioneers of that part of the state. John Gable was a farmer by occupation, a quiet and unassuming man, and resided upon the farm where he originally settled until 1837, when he moved to Richland county. Ohio, and in 1853 sold and moved to Dela- ware county, Indiana, where he resided until called from the scenes of earthly labor, in the year 1862. His wife survived him many years, departing this life in Hartford City at the home of hier son, the subject of this sketch, in 1895. The family of John and Susan Gable consisted of eleven children, whose names are as follows : Betsey, drowned when sixteen years old; John, a farmer of Delaware county, Indiana; Will- iam Heury, whose name appears at the head of this article; Sarah, wife of Peter Deal, resides in the town of Parker, this state ; Maria, who married John Wolford, of Man- ton, Michigan; George A., a hardware mer- chant doing business in Hartford City; Mrs. Susan Sudworth, who died in Hartford City in 1893; Lewis, an Indianapolis druggist; Nathaniel, of Portland, Indiana, a tobacco dealer ; Emeline, deceased, and an infant that died unnamed. John Gable was an honest, hard working. God-fearing man, generous to a fault and a great social favorite in the community where he lived. Politi- cally he was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party, when he espoused the principles of that party and continued loyal to the same during the remainder of his life. He and wife were for many years
Emulig Gable 1
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devoted members of the Lutheran church, exemplified its teachings in their daily life, instilled its pure and gentle precepts into the minds and hearts of their children and died in the hope of a future in the resurection of the just.
William Henry Gable passed the years of his youth and early manhood on his fa- ther's farm, where he early learned lessons of industry and frugality and at the same time was taught to appreciate the true honor and dignity of labor. In the indifferent country schools of that period in Ohio he obtained the rudiments of the English branches, but, like the majority of sturdy men who grew to maturity amid the rugged and toilsome duties of the farm. lie is largely self taught, having obtained a sound practical education by coming in contact with men and circumstances during a long and active life. He attended school a few mionthis of each year until eighteen, at which the he entered upon a three years apprenticeship at Mansfield, Ohio, to learn cabinetmaking. Owing to the failure in business of his em- ployer at the end of his first year's service, Mr. Gable left Mansfield and, going to Ash- land, finished his trade at the latter place and began working for himself at different points in Ohio. He followed his chosen calling with encouraging success until 1848, at which time he established himself iu busi- ness at Petersburg, now Mifflin, Ashland county, Ohio, where he man ctured and sold furniture until 1850, making the most of his opportunities during that period. Ilis next move savored very much of the ventur- ous; he went, via New York City, to Cali- fornia, shipping to the Shagres river, up which he proceeded by canoe to a point some sixty miles from: the mouth of the stream, thence twenty-one miles further on foot to
Panama, where he took ship for San Fran- cisco. Reaching that place, he at once pro- ceeded to the mines and with thou- sands of other fortune seekers began delving among hills, ravines and gulches for the yellow metal which lured so many from pleasant homes only to disap- point them in that far-away and forbidding land. Mr. Gable was one of a company of men who spent much time and the greater part of their means in prospecting for the wealth the. firmly believed to be hidden somewhere among the hills and valleys of California. In order to better prosecute his search and being without the requisite amount of capital, he borrowed from certain members of the company a limited supply of money, promising if successful to repay upon his return one-half of his first year's earnings. True to his promise, he returned in due time, repaid the amount borrowed with twelve per cent interest thereon; be- sides this he realized about thirteen hundred dollars from his venture in the gold fields.
Mr. Gable was absent from May 4, 1850, to May 4, 1852, two years to the day, and. aside from money realized, considered him- self amply repaid by reason of interesting incidents. thrilling adventures and general information afforded him by the long and varied journey. Returning to Mifflin, Ohio, he resumed his former business, which he continued there about one year, then he re- moved to Hartford City, Indiana, where he again embarked in the furniture trade, to which he subsequently added undertaking, the enterprise proving very successful finan- cially, realizing him handsome profits which he greatly increased from time to time by judicious investments in real estate. His first purchase was the lot now occupied by his large business block, at that time com-
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pletely covered with a dense underbrush, with a quagmire on the present site of his residence. Mr. Gable pursued his business steadily but surely, being satisfied with sub- stantial gains, instead of being allured, as so many have been, by the false promise of stidden wealth. His career in this city from the beginning presents a series of continued successes, and by close attention, directed by wise forethought, he succeeded in time in amassing a fortune of sufficient volume to ,enable him to retire from active business and spend his declining years in the enjoy- ment of that peace and quiet which those who have battled long and successfully with life know so well how to appreciate. Mr. Gable arranged huis affairs so as to turn his back upon the world of traffic in 1893, since which date he has spent his time look- ing after his property interests in the city and elsewhere and, as stated above, making the most of the years which are yet spared to lim.
Our subject was married, in Lagrange, Indiana, in 1852, to Eliza Jane Bennett, daughter of Aquilla Bennett, of the county of Lagrange, a union blessed with the birth of six children, namely: William A., of this city, a merchant; Emerson Alfred, a tinner doing business in Hartford City; Lewis Clark, a contractor and builder of this place; Delia A., who married Edward Bowen, of McLeansboro, Illinois ; Susan O., wife of. Samuel Stafford, a retired farmer of Hartford City, and Marianetta, now Mrs. Geo: · Tait, a painter and paper hanger of Mario, Indiana. The mother of the chil- dren died in 1870, and subsequently Mr. Gable entered into the marriage relation with Mrs. Emily (Cline) Craw, widow of the late John Craw and daughter of Michael Cline, of Blackford county. The issue of
the second union is two children, viz : Mel bourne Albert. salesman for Weilerd & Weil. erd, furniture dealers of Hartford City, and Roland Orville, a bookkeeper in the employ of E. C. Cooley. Mr. and Mrs. Gable are communicants of the Metly dist Episcopal church, active in all departments of relig- ious work and liberal in their donations to promote the financial interests of the local congregation to which they belong. Mr. Gable has been a class-leader since about 1855, a trustee for almost the same length of time, and has been a steward for some time. He has also serve ! on the building and repairing committee and has been a gen- eral, all around good helper in his church. Mr. Gable is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Odd Fellows and G. A. R., and every legitimate enterprise having for its object the good of the community finds in him a zealous supporter and liberal patron.
The military career of Mr. Gable began in 1861, when the dark clouds of Rebellion portended the forthcoming storm which threatened to disrupt the Union. In that year he enlisted in Company I, Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry, for three years or during the war, but he did not serve his full time, having been discharged at the expiration of one and a half years by reason of physical disability. Later, in 1864, he became a member of the Twenty-sixth Infantry, join- ing the same at Indianapolis, thence pro- ceeding to Donaldsonville, near New Or- leans, serving with his command for a period of one year. He saw considerable active service, participated in all the campaigns and battles in which his regiment was engaged! and will carry to the grave the mark of a wound received in the chest at Mobile, Ala- bama. He was discharged at Jackson, Missis- sippi, and his record as a brave and gallant
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defender of the national union is replete with rugged, toilsome duty faithfully and uncomplainingly performed. In politics Mr. Gable is a Republican and as such has served several terms as member of the com- mon council of Hartford City. In every relation of life he has endeavored to shape his conduct in harmony with the highest ideal of manhood, and few citizens occupy a higher place in the confidence and esteem of the public. Honest, upright, truthful, gen- crous, a benefactor, a broad-minded, intelli- gent man of affairs, Mr. Gable may be taken as a representative type of a class only too rare in this rapid age -- a refined and court- eous gentleman of the old school.
JOHN R. JOHNSTON.
John R. Johnston, a representative busi- ness man of Hartford City, is a native of Ohio, born in the county of Darke on the 8th day of April, 1867. His father. Francis E. Johnston, and mother, whose maiden name was Emily Wiggs, were natives re- spectively of Preble county, Ohio, and Ran- dolph county, Indiana, in the latter of which they assumed their marriage relation, re- moving immediately subsequent thereto to the village of Arcanum, Darke county, where Mr. Johnston engaged in the business of general merchandising. Francis Johnston was a hero of the late Civil war, having served during the greater part of that strug- gle, and his career as a civilian embraced the period between his marriage and death, the latter occurring in 1878 in Arcantim, where, as a merchant, he carried on an ex- tensive and lucrative trade. His widow is still living, making her home at this time in 1
the city of Topeka, Kansas ; she is the mother of two children, the subject of this biogra- phy. and Elizabeth, deceased.
John R. Johnston received the principal part of his scholastic training in Kokomo, Indiana, and Topeka, Kansas, between the years 1879 and 1889, accepting a position at the latter date in a private bank in To- peka. After serving in this capacity for a limited period he accompanied a colonizing expedition to Old Mexico, where he re mained for a short time, then returned to Indiana and located at Hartford City as bookkeeper .for a glass company, retaining the position for a period of about four years. With such satisfaction did he dis- charge the duties incumbent upon him that at the expiration of the above time he was made secretary of the company and later, in recognition of his able services, was re- warded by the higher and more responsible position of general manager of the firm. Mr. Johuston continued as secretary and general manager until the Hartford City Glass Company passed into the hands of the American Window Glass Company, after which he was requested by the new manage- cent to remain as general manager at great- ly increased remuneration : this he consented to do and he was thus engaged until resign- ing th: place in April, 1900. In the mean- time Mr. Joh ston became interested in banking, and .. present he is identified with the Citizens State Bank of Hartford City as vice-president, besides being connected with other financial and industrial enterprises, notable among which is the Utility Paper Mill, one of the leading manufacturing plants of the place.
Mr. Johnston's financial success has been commensurate with the energy and wise forethought exhibited in the various under-
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takings with which his name has been con- nected, and few men have had as potent an influence in shaping and fixing upon a firm and substantial basis the business interests of the city.
Our subject was united in marriage, in Duluth, Minnesota, October 4, 18gt, to Miss Nellie M. Thompson, who was born in Chi- cago, Illinois, on the 16th day of October, 1870. This union was blessed with the birth of one child, John R. Johnston, Jr. Mr. Johnston is a supporter of the Republican « party and has made his influence felt in many campaigns, both local and national. At this time he is a member of the city school board, being treasurer of the same, and the interest he has ever manifested in matters educational has resulted in the enviable rep- tttation the school system of Hartford City enjoys throughout the state. He is a Ma- son of high standing, having reached the thirty-second degree, and is also actively identified with the Pythian order, in which he has at different times been elected to im- portant official positions.
As a business man Mr. Johnston is con- spicuous for the method, exactitude and promptness of all his transactions. All his energies, thoughts, impulses and intuitions, like so many satellites, revolve around this one idea, and in every detail, even the most minute, he observes fixed rules, from which he rarely deviates. In his various business transactions he has come in contact with all classes of men, whose confidence he in- varial. succeeds in winning, and this, too, by no artifice or blandishment, but by fair dealing and unfaltering loyalty to his en- gagements. Wherever he is known his word has the sanctity of an obligation, and he has always endeavored to shape his conduct in accord with the principles of bus' ss ethics,
and to meet his fellow men upon the plane of a mutual reciprocity of interests is one of the fundamental elements of his nature. Men who know him best trust him with an absolute faith in the rectitude of his inten- tions, and his life has been directed by the genius of industry and perseverance, and the success with which his off have been crowned has rather been the result of fidel- ity to purpose than of any remarkably bril- liant transactions. Caution, prudence and penetration are among his most striking characteristics, and he always moves with great deliberation, but when necessity rc- quires he acts with promptness only equalled by a most remarkably positiveness and firm- ness. He possesses both independence of mind and character, is self poised, self pos- sessed, self dependent and though by no means forward or aggressive in his daily intercourse with the world, his force, self assertion and strong individuality never fail to make his presence felt. As a citizen he has always been identified with the public welfare, and to all moral, charitable and like enterprises he contributes his share with- Out ostentatious parade. Socially he is agree- able and courteous, popular with all and few occupy a more conspicuous place in the public regard. Possessing a fine, command- ing presence. endowed with vital powers to support his mental activities, he may be taken as a representative type of the cultured, self-made inan of the present day.
WILLIAM HARLEY
William Harley, the popular young county surveyor of Blackford county, Indi- ana, was born in Newark, Ne v Jersey, April
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1, 1861, and is a son of William and Mar- garet (Morrisy) Harley, the former of whom was born in county Donegal, and the latter in county Tipperary, Ireland, but mar- ried in New York, whence they went to live in Newark, New Jersey, where the father was engaged in the manufacture of wagon springs until 1862. In the year last named the Harley family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the father was engaged in the cooperage business for about six years, and also in sugar refining. In 1868 the family came to Indiana, and for four years the father employed himself in farming, but the climate or the pursuit not agreeing with his health, he returned with his family to the east, and for eight months worked at coopering in Baltimore, Maryland. His next removal was again to Philadelphia, where he engaged in the same line until 1879, when he once more ime to Indiana and followed the pursuit of agriculture in Randolph county, and with happier results, apparently, as he continued there until 1885, when he came to Blackford county, bought eighty acres of good land in Jackson town- ship and there has maintained his residence ever since. In politics Mr. Harley is a Dem- ocrat, and while in the east took an active part in the interest of his party. In religion the family are Catholics and belong to St. Jolin's congregation at Hartford City, In- diana.
schools, where he remained for four years. Having acquired a knowledge of surveying and civil engineering and being mathemat- ically inclined, he began the study of sur- veying and civil engineering with the in- tention of making that a profession. About this time it became necessary that he give up his studies in order to assist his parents in providing for the rest of the family, and in order to do so he engaged with his father in the cooperage business, where he was actively engaged for a period of two years. or until the removal of the family to Indiana. in 1879, at which time he engaged in farm- ing with his parents, and at this occupation he remained until the fall of 1890. During all the time he was engaged at farming his leisure moments were taken up in the study of his chosen profession, and his ability as a surveyor and engineer having become known, he was induced to become a candi- date for the office of county surveyor of Blackford county, and after a spirited con- test was elected. Having cred ably filled the office of county surveyor, he was ap- pointed city engineer of Hartford City in 1891, which position he held in connection with the county surveyor's office until 1894, at which time he was defeated for the latter office by George T. Fulton, but continued to act as city engineer of Hartford City until 1896, when he resigned to again become county surveyor, he having defeated Mr. Fulton for that office. Mr. Harley was again elected to fill the same office in 1898 and is the present incumbent. In addition to the foregoing Mr. Harley is the city engin- cer of the city of Montpelier, Indiana, and has charge of all the important engineering work in his county, including sewers, water works, gravel roads, streets, ditches, and
William Harley, the subject proper of this biography, is the second born of eleven children that blessed the marriage of his parents. He received his early education in the public schools of Philadelphia and Balti- more, and later entered St. Peter's Academy at the latter city, where he remained until the removal of the family to Philadelphia, after which he again entered the public , other improvements, aggregating millions
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of dollars. Mr. Harley has ide many friends throughout the state of Indiana, where he is well known. He is a member of the Indiana Engineering Society, and also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. He is also chairman of the Democratic county central committee of Blackford coun- ty, to which position he was chosen by his party in February, 1900.
Mr. Harley was married to Miss Ella Kennedy, at Marion, Indiana, on January 14, 1892. This lady was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, March 12, 1868, and is the daughter of James and Sarah Kennedy, highly re- spected residents of this county, The union of Mr. and Mrs. Harley has been blessed with two children: James Edwin and Charles, whose ages are five and two years. respectively.
GEORGE T. FULTON.
George Thomas Fulton, city engineer of Hartford City, Blackford county, Indiana, was born in Ontario, Canada. in 1872, and is a son of James and Jennie (Gray) Ful- ton, and of these parents a biographical sketch will here be given in precedence to that of George Thomas, in order that the reader may gain a clearer insight into the family history.
James Fulton, a general merchant, was born in Dunnville, Ontario, May 12, 1845. and was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Thompson) Fulton. natives of Scotland, who settled in Dunnville, Canada, in 18.42, where Thomas Fulton engaged in milling until his death in 1845, his widow surviv- ing until 1894, when her death took place at the age of eighty-eight years. They were the parents of eight children, viz: John,
deceased; Hugh, also deceased; Thomas died in infancy : James, the gentleman whos. name opens this paragraph; Robert, who has also passed away; Anna, who died in 1881; and Isabella, wife of J. Armstrong, | a retired farmer, now a resident of Chicago. Illinois. Thomas and Elizabeth Fulton were of the national religious faith of Scot- land. the orthodox Presbyterian, and in pol- itics Thomas Fulton was a liberal. Te and wife were both of a literary trend of mind. were of refined tastes and possessed of a sterling uprightness that never swerved to the right or left.
James Fulton, son of Thomas and father of George Thomas Fulton, received his pre- liminary education at Silver Hill, in Norfolk county, Canada, later attended the Simcoe grammar school at Toronto, from which he graduated at the age of twenty-one years. For several years he followed the vocation of school teacher in the New Dominion, and then finally decided to become a merchant. Tle accordingly embarked in mercantile pur- S11: s at Langton, Canada, and succeeded in doing a profitable trade until 1880, when he came to the United States and engaged in merchand og at Waterman, Ilinois, un- til 1893, wl. ; he came to Hartford City, Blackford county, Indiana, where he is now conducting one of the largest and best ap- pointed general es in the county, having
first started wir groceries only. to which he confined himself for two years, but now carrying a stock valued at ten thousand dol- lars. James Fulton married, in Canada, in November, 1871, Jane E. Gray, who was born in New York May 19. 1846, a daughter of George and Jane Charlton Gray, and to this union were born nine children, in the following order: George Thomas. whose name opens this sketch ; William John, a stu-
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dent at law; Anna E., a teacher in a city school; Robert Bruce, in his junior year in the civil engineering department of the State University of Illinois; Walter Scott, who was appointed a cadet at the West Point United States Military Academy, New York, in 1899; James Thompson, attending high school; Frederick Gray; Ella C. and Mary B., at home. The family worship at the Presbyterian church and are sincere in their profession of faith, as is manifested in their daily walk through life. Mr. Fulton is a Republican in politics, and since 1897 has been a member of the school board.
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