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 68
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When William was in his seventeenth year he returned to Preble county, Ohio, and at New Castle learned the potter's trade, at which he worked there and in Darke county for the next five years. There he met the young lady whose interest in him deepened into that something whose culmination is marriage, that ceremony being performed on the 5th of February, 1851. She was Miss Catherine Ullom, whose birth occurred in Darke county, May 29, 1830. Her father dying when she was less than two years old, her mother, Jane Wilt, became the wife of John McFarland, her own demise transpir- ing before Catherine had reached her tenth year. From that event her youth was passed with an uncle in Preble county.
Our subject followed farming near New Madison, Ohio, till the fall of 1855, when he brought his family to his present home, one mile north of Dundee, where for forty- five years he has constantly grown in the estimate of his neighbors. Their first house, which stood until 1877, was the most primi- tive, not only in its general structure, but in all its appointments, puncheon floor, clap- board doors made without nails, etc. He worked at fifty cents per day to pay for his first horse. The first tax paid was the re- sult of the sale of a mink and a coon skin. It took him five years to complete the pay- ment of the sixty-five dollars the horse cost, before he could devote his entire time to the clearing of his own land. He could secure plenty of work at small wages, and it is claimed that he placed the first blind ditch ever known in this section of the country, this being in the adjoining township in Wells county. This soon demonstrated the value and the possibility of underground drain- age, and the neighbors were not slow to profit by it, he being in great demand for
the supervision. When working as a potter he had made tile and had seen its use in the older states, and at once advocating the making of it here, had the satisfaction of laying the first that was put in the ground in this county. The labor of drainage and clearing was so great and his progress to- ward making a farm so slow that it was fif- teen years before he was able to live from the product of his own farm. Being handy with all tools, he turned his attention largely to making shingles, becoming an expert in a market for staves, thousands of which he shaving them; several buildings covered by him nearly one-half a century ago are still in a good state of preservation. There was made, hauling them to Hartford. His repu- tation as an expert woodsman and chopper was wide reaching, and he never wanted for that class of work, generally, however, tak- ing the jobs of clearing, at which he ex- celled, and of which he did more than any other half dozen men. Of the men who cast their votes in the township in 1856, but five are still resident of the same. They are Alfred Miles, Hammond Miles, Zeke Haley, Eli McConkey and our subject. No better shot was to be found in the entire region, numerous contests with the rifle attesting the fact, and even now, at the age of seventy- two, no tree is so high but that he brings the squirrel from its topmost branches. Wolves, deer, wild turkey and foxes abound- ed, not to speak of the millions of smaller game, and the young man whose blood would not warm at their sight must have been of an extremely phlegmatic nature. Every con- dition demanded self-reliance, and few men of the early times were more ready to ad- just their lives to the needs of the commu- nity in which they lived than he, becoming almost absolutely independent of the outside
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world. All their clothing was produced by their own efforts, the linen being from flax of their own growing, which he pulled, broke, swingled, and hackled and which his wife spun and wove. The demand was no less upon the women than the men; in fact, if it were possible women had a more im- portant work to do and sphere to fill than at the present. His own skill with tools soon attained wide reputation and he was made the general mechanic of the commu- nity, making grain and baby cradles, ox yokes, sleds, carts and wagons, tool handles, ax handles, baskets, and in fact everything that was needed in the growing country. His deftness in making baskets has remained with him, he, even now, devoting consider- able attention to this handiwork. Farmers began to think that clover seed would fail to germinate if not sown by him, and the demand was equally great in sheep shearing time. When it came to doctoring any of the domestic animals, few trained veterinarians have acquired the skill that the actual de- mands of the times compelled him to attain.
He has been a not less important factor in shaping the moral and intellectual scope of the neighborhood, being one of the or- ganizers of the Church of God, to which he has devoted much thought and effort ever since. Never inclined to await the motion of other men, but placing reliance upon his own judgment, he has ever taken a foremost position in all that makes for better condi- tions, whatever sphere of life is affected. He introduced the first Southdown sheep from Ohio, an improvement in the stock that is seen to this day. He was an abolitionist from a boy, casting his first franchise for VanBuren in 1848; and was a Free Soiler before attaining his majority. Active from the organization of the Republican party, he
took an interest in the cause of the preser- vation of the Union, urging the enlistment of those whose home ties would permit finally proffering his personal service by en- listing in the fall of 1864, as a recruit in the Fifty-third Indiana, joining the command at Jonesboro, Georgia, soon after the fall of Atlanta. He went with Sherman's army to the sea and to Raleigh and Washington, where he marched in the grand review, being finally discharged at Louisville. He has been most active as a party worker, having never wavered, in season and out of season, as a loyal supporter of the party. Ever an enthusiast, when once a course has been chosen, whether in politics or religion, he has felt it a duty, not only to the cause, but to himself and to the world, to make such converts as his proselyting ability would permit. Being well versed in the history of both religious and of political movements, and having a happy command of language, with the ability to apply it to the point at issue, he is no mean antagonist, as many a self-conceited man can testify.
As in every other important matter af- fecting the welfare of those dependent upon him, he has afforded his children every ad- vantage possible, assisting them to education and position. They are six in number, their names being: Benjamin F., dying in in- fancy; James Talbert, who died just as man- hood was opening its possibilities; Francis Marion Frazier, M. D., LL. D., is a Donu- lar physician at Pioneer, Williams county, Ohio; Robert Anderson is one of the most successful teachers of this section of the state, having for seventeen years followed that pro- fession in Blackford, Wells, Huntington and Grant counties; Sherman Scoheld is also an M. D., located at Kunkle, Williams county, Ohio, where he has a most satisfactory and
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extensive practice ; Levi S. is farming in the vicinity of the old home, but is equally widely and favorably known as a teacher. Thus it is seen that not a little of the ambition that has ever characterized the father and mother has been transmitted in undiminished vigor to the sons, each having made for him- self an enviable record for earnestness and honesty of purpose, which carried into the noblest walks of life demands for each the highest esteem of their fellow men. The Frazier home is noted far and wide for its open-hearted hospitality, there being no other country residence in Blackford county where so many friends are entertained with the old style, generous, whole-souled recep- tion that cements, with the passage of years, the close feelings of independence estab- lished in the youth of the county. As the shadows of the evening of life lengthen the regard of our subject for the friends of the early years, as well as for those of today, broaden the spirit of Christian charity, being constantly more manifest.
JOHN A. G. MILLER.
Conspicuous among the successful men and representative citizens of Montpelier is John A. G. Miller, who hails from the far away kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, where his birth occurred on the 15th day of August, 1833. His parents were Christopher and Barbara Miller, both natives of Bavaria, and as far back as the genealogy can be traced his ancestors appear to have lived in that country.
After attending the schools in the Father- land until his nineteenth year young Miller, like thousands of his countrymen, decided
that the great world beyond the waters af- forded better advantages for an ambitious youth than his own nativity. Accordingly, about the year 1853, he sailed for America and in due time reached his destination. Within a short time after his arrival he made hs way to Blackford county where, in part- nership with a brother, Henry Miller, he operated a mill about one rile north of Montpelier. It may be stated in this connec- tion that Mr. Miller had previously learned the mill-wright's trade in Germany with his father, who was a successful workman, and by reference to the family history it appears that among his ancestors for generations were many men who made the construction of mills their special work The above mill, erected in 1849 on ground purchased by the above mentioned Henry, manufactured both flour and lumber, water supplying the motive power, and it was highly prized and exten- sively patronized by the citizens of a large area of country for many years. It was torn down and rebuilt with enlarged capacity in 1867 and continued in operation until de- stroyed by fire in 1883. Since the latter year Mr. Miller has not been engaged in milling, but previous to that date the old mill during its palmy days realized for its owners a hand- some income, which they judiciously invested from time to time in Blackford county real estate. By reason of the gradual develop- ment of the county and the consequent rise in the value of farm lands Mr. Miller in due time found himself the possessor of a com- fortable fortune which has been augmented by his exertions in other vocations, in all of which his success has been most gratifying. During the two years following the destruc- tion of his mill property Mr. Miller devoted his attention to agriculture, having purchased the place upon which he now resides in 1880.
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At that time the farm was a wild and rugged piece of wood land, but under his manage- ment it has since been cleared, improved and put in a successful state of cultivation. He erected thereon a commodious residence, supplied with all modern improvements and conveniences, and being a man of refined tastes he has spared no pains in beautifying the premises, planting the lawn with beauti- ful flowers and rare foreign shrubbery and in many other ways adding to the appearance and value of what may properly be termed a model home.
Mr. Miller has an artistic temperament and the beautiful never fails to appeal to him or escape his observation. His city property, of which he owns much that is valuable, in- cluding private residence and a business block, is in keeping with the taste displayed on his rural possessions ; indeed the condition of everything belonging to his bespeaks the presence of a wide-awake, energetic man who believes good taste to be one of the potent factors of our modern civilizatin.
In 1872 Mr. Miller became a member of Montpelier Lodge, No. 410, I. O. O. F., the different offices of which he has from time to time been called to filled; he also belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, Tribe No. 71, and in this he has also been complimented with important official positions. His relig- ious faith is embodied in the Baptist confes- sion of faith and in politics he supports the principles of the Democratic party. Mr. Miller's marriage was solemnized, April 3, 1856, with Plessy S. Morris, who was born April 26, 1833, and departed this life on the 7th day of July, 1892. Mrs. Miller was the daughter of Jonathan Morris, an old resident of Blackford county, whose birth occurred September 16, 1796, and who was called from the scenes of earth in February, 1850.
The following are the names of the children constituting the family of Mr. and Mrs. Miller : George M., deceased; Mary Jane, Mary E., John F., Miranda M., William A. and Margaret E.
Thus briefly, and with no attempt at un- due praise have the salient facts in the life of one of Blackford county's most estimable citizens been set forth. He is one of Indi- ana's representative German-American cit- izens and his influence upon the industrial, moral and religious interests of Montpelier is acknowledged by all to be whole- some and in every respect beneficial. Endowed by nature with a spirit of determination which hesitates at no ob- stacle, he has steadily and aggressively pur- sued his way, winning worldly wealth and at the same time retaining the good will.and unbounded confidence of all with whom he has had any relations whatever. He can truly say that he is at peace with all mankind, and the future, both in the world and the after- while, contains nothing from which he con- sciously shrinks.
S. J. DOWNING.
The career of the well-known gentleman to a review of whose life the following lines are devoted forms an interesting theme for the pen of the biographer. Mr. Downing is a Pennsylvanian by birth, and a descend- ant of one of the oldest settlers of Venango county, a section of country lying in the western part of the Keystone state. He was born in what is now Crawford county on the 31st of July, 1832, and is the son of William and May Downing, the mother's family name being Coyle. When of suffi-
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cient age he was sent to the district school near his home and after becoming well enough advanced entered Allegheny College, at Meadville, where he pursued his studies for some years with the object of preparing himself for the teacher's profession. On leaving the above institution he began teach- ing in the county of Venango, and such was his success as an instructor that for a pe- riod of twenty-four years he was retained i :: the same locality, the greater part of the time in a single school district. During this time he taught young men and young women whose children afterwards became his pupils, and in one instance he numbered among the students of his school a grand- child of one of the scholars who attended the first term taught by him in the old build- ing alluded to above. Few teachers in the United States can cite such an instance, and it is exceedingly doubtful if any person in the whole country has retained such a deep and abiding place in the affections of as many people who by the influence of his instructions were started upon the way to successful manhood and womanhood. In connection with his duties as teacher Mr. Downing also devoted considerable atten- tion to agricultural pursuits, the school re- quiring his time only during the fall, win- ter and early spring seasons. Like the great majority of the people of western Pennsyl- vania Mr. Downing early became interested in the oil business, and within a short time. after the discovery of this wealth-produc- ing agent he began operations in the field as a contractor for drilling wells. This vent- ure at first met with gratifying success, but later, by means of a controversy arising be- tween himself and others, he finally aban- coned drilling, and for some years thereafter followed teaming in the oil region, trans-
porting the product of many wells to places of shipment. In fact, he worked at differ- ent times in every department of the oil business, and became one of the best in- formed men in all matters concerning the product in the country where he operated.
Mr. Downing remained in his native state busily engaged until 1891, when, by reason of the discovery and consequent development of the rich Indiana oil fields, he came to this state and since that time has resided in Montpelier. He was first engaged in pur- chasing leases, canceling the same, locating wells and service of like nature, but later be- came superintendent of the oil warehouse at Montpelier, which he still most successfully manages. He is an expert oil man, and his advice and counsel are eagerly sought and are seldom found at fault. He has done much towards inducing the investment of capital in the region adjacent to Montpelier, and many of the best paying wells have been located and drilled under his personal super- vision.
Mr. Downing is a gentleman of irre- proachable character, superior business tact and possesses a personality which never fails to command respect and admiration. His long connection with educational work makes him critical as to details, while his contact with leading business men of his native and adopted states has broadened his mind and given him an experience far more valuable than any learning obtainable within college or university walls. The Presbyte- rian creed represents his religion, and in poli- tics he believes the interest of the country can best be subserved by a practical applica- tion of the principles of the Prohibition party.
Mr. Downing is a married man and the father of three children, whose names are
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as follows: Alma A., wife of George B. Wilt, born September 29, 1855, resides at Marion, Indiana; William C., born Decen- ber 22, 1857, and Mary E., born January 4. 1860, married William M. Page, of Mont- pelier, and died on the 18th day of Decem- ber, 1899. The mother of these children became the wife of Mr. Downing, in Ve- mango county, Pennsylvania, August 15, 1854; her maiden name was Nancy Ross, and her parents, Joseph and Savilla (David- son) Ross, were for many years well known residents of Rockland township in the above county and state.
MARION A. EMSHWILLER.
In no department of biographical litera- ture is there greater cause for inspiration and enthusiasm than in chronicling the lives of successful medical men. The physician whose smallest duty is the administration of remedies and whose very presence heals, is a theme worthy the pen of the most gifted writer. Devoted to his profession and pre- senting his life a daily sacrifice for suffering humanity; the true discipline of the healing art is indeed one of the world's greatest ben- efactors and is destined to live in hearts of those made whole through his efforts rather than in chiseled epitaph on granite obelisks.
Among the noted physicians of Black- ford county whose fame for one so young has already extended far beyond her borders is Dr. Marion A. Emshwiller, of Montpelier. Dr. Emshwiller is the son of John and Mary Emshwiller. The Doctor was born in Jackson township, Blackford county, Octo- ber 25, 1869, and when five years old was taken by his parents to Montpelier. Here he
passed the years of his youth and carly man- hood and in due time completed the public school course, graduating from the town high school in 1885. The intellectual train- ing thus received was afterwards supple- mented by attendance at De Pauw Univer- sity, Greencastle, after leaving which the young man accepted a clerical position in his father's drug store in Montpelier. After spending some time in this capacity he turned his attention to general labor and was thus employed for the greater part of four years. In the meantime he decided to devote his life to the medical profession and in order to pre- pare himself for the successful prosecution of the same, entered, in 1889, the Indiana Med- ical College, now the Medical University of Indianapolis, from which he was graduated on the 31st day of March, 1891. For some time after completing his course Dr. Emsh- willer remained in the office of Dr. Marsee, of Indianapolis, and in October, 1892, was honored by being appointed demonstrator of anatomy in the above university, which posi- tion he ably filled until January of the follow- ing year. He then returned to Montpelier and opened an office over his father's drug store, where he has since practiced his profes- sion, meeting with success such as few attain in a much longer and more varied career.
In 1892 Dr. Emshwiller was elected cor- oner of Blackford county, the duties of which he discharged for a period of two years, and for the four years between 1893 and 1897 he served as a member of the United States board of pension examiners at Bluffton. He had the distinction of being the first health officer of Montpelier and his administration of that office was marked by a decided de- crease in the sick and death rate of the city during his incumbency.
In his profession Dr. Emshwiller stands
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deservedly high as a successful practitioner and his devotion to his patients and skill in diagnosing and treating the many ills to which humanity is heir render him an ideal family physician. Studious in habit, he aims to keep pace with the advanced thought of the day in all matters pertaining to his call- ing and it is a compliment well bestowed to state that no physician of his years in Mont- pelier has within so short a length of time built up a larger professional business or oc- cupied a more prominent place in the public esteem. The Doctor is a member of Mont- pelier Lodge, No. 410, I. O. O. F., and has been an active worker in the fraternity since becoming identified therewith in 1891. Po- litically he is a Democrat. He has been twice married, the first time on the 8th of October, 1891, to Miss Margaret Patterson, daughter of Daniel and Anna (Howard) Patterson, by whom he had two children, John P., born September 9, 1892, and Emily Marie, born June 24, 1894. Mrs. Emshwiller de- parted this life April 1, 1895, and on the 9th day of September, 1897, the Doctor entered into the marriage relation with his present companion, whose maiden name was Leota E. Adams, daughter of William and Rachael (Thornburg) Adams.
WILLIAM M. GOTHRUP.
William M. Gothrup, a retired minister and now a farmer of Jackson township, whose postoffice address is Hartford City, was born in Delaware county, Indiana, July 21, 1855. He is the youngest of eight chil- dren born to his parents, John T. and Mary (Rutherford) Gothrup, who are mentioned more fully in connection with the biograph-
ical sketch of James E. Gothrup, elsewhere published in this work. He now lives on the old homestead, two miles west of Mill Grove, where the family settled about 1868, the farm containing sixty-three acres of land. Upon this farm William M. Gothrup has erected a new house in which he and his family now reside. He was married May I, 1875, to Miss Mary J. Martin, a daughter of William Martin, of Jackson township, she having been also born in Dela- ware county, Indiana, and being brought to Jackson township when a child. Mr. and Mrs. Gothrup have a family of three chil- dren, viz :: Gertrude, wife of Burt Span- gler, and living on a farm in Pulaski county, Indiana; Edith and Maude, both at home. All have been well educated at the Hartford city schools, and have paid special attention to music.
Politically Mr. Gothrup is a Republican, and has often attended conventions as a dele- gate. His education was not by any means neglected, for he succeeded in securing a fair college course at North Manchester, and he also pursued theological studies with a view to being a minister. He was licensed to preach in the liberal branch of the United Brethren church, and began his ministerial labors in Delaware county on Gaston circuit, with four churches, remaining on the cir- cuit two years. Afterward he spent one year on the home circuit, known as the Hart- ford City circuit, this circuit also having four churches. Not enjoying the best of health, he then returned to the farm, feeling that his success as a minister of the gospel could not be what he would like, nor what it would have been had he not, on account of ill- health, been compelled to cut short his stud- ies in theology, and he believed that it would be better for the cause of religion for better
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educated men to occupy the pulpit. It was 1889 when he ceased to preach and with- drew from the church, and since then he has not become attached to any other church. But even if he did feel compelled to aban- don the pleasant duty of teaching others the right and true way to life eternal, yet he loses no opportunity of doing good as opportunity presents itself, and his life is a continual ex- ample to all with whom he daily comes in contact.
ORLANDO SHERMAN FORD.
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It is by the study of the lives of indi- viduals that we learn what may be accom- plished, and hence it is a pleasure to present a brief outline of the career of the subject of this memoir, Orlando Sherman Ford, who was born in Preble county, Ohio, July 5, 1864. He is a son of David and Mary (Richards) Ford, both of whom were na- tives of Virginia, now West Virginia, and were brought to Ohio when young by their parents. David Ford was a bricklayer by trade, and late in life became a miller. In 1868 he and his wife removed with their family to Illinois, locating near Olney, where Mr. Ford engaged in milling. After re- maining there about four years he brought his family to Indiana, locating at Shoals, where he operated a mill. Here he died when Sherman was about nine years old, leaving his widow without means, having lost all he had invested, about six thousand dollars. She then removed to Blackford county, bringing with her two of her chil- dren, Orlando Sherman, the subject of this sketch, and David A., who were always with her. She was induced to locate in Black- ford county by the fact of her having a son,
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