USA > Indiana > Grant County > Biographical memoirs of Grant County, Indiana : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography with portraits of many national characters and well-known residents of Grant County, Indiana. > Part 65
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Hugh W. Winslow descends from old Whig stock, but when that party was dis- integrated he and all the male members of the family became stanch Republicans. Dur- ing the Civil war H. W. Winslow was a mail contractor, but was drafted and his
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name enrolled as a member of the Seventy- ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but on presentation of his credentials at headquar- ters was granted an unlimited furlough.
Hugh W. Winslow and family are all members of the Friends Society, and prior to this time the ancestors were Quakers in England and in America previous to the Revolutionary war-some of the family re- maining in New England and others going to North Carolina-and of this last branch the Indiana family are all descendants.
WILLIAM GAGE.
One of the most prominent and influen- tial farmers of Grant county, Indiana, is William Gage, of Monroe township, whose public spirit and untiring zeal has made him a leader in the community in which he lives, and whose farm of one hundred and twenty acres proves his ability as a farmer.
Mark Gage, father of William, was born in the state of Ohio on January 9, 1818, but came to the new state of Indiana at an early clay. Here he bought a home in the wilder- ness, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres of government land. The original dleed to this land is now among the valued possessions of our subject and was executed by President Van Buren on September 20, 1839. The first home of this sturdy pio- neer was of hewed logs, made from his own timber by his own hands. All kinds of wild game abounded and it was no uncommon sight to see wolves and deer in the near vi- cinity of their dwelling. Many of these ani- mals were killed and the venison thus ob- tained formed a wholesome variety to their
bill of fare. Mr. Gage was of English par- entage and true to the nature inherited was a thrifty, hard-working man. His education had of necessity been but a meager one, but a shrewd, keen intellect and sound com- mon sense characterized his life and made him respected and esteemed by those who knew him. He was at one time an old time Whig, but when that party was merged into the Republican he became a champion of those principles and Abraham Lincoln had no more stanch an advocate than Mr. Gage. His death, which occurred February 24, 1863, was regretted by a wide circle of true friends.
The faithful wife who shared his joys and sorrows was Elizabeth Morgan. She was born August 9. 1814, and now, at the age of eighty-six, is still in the enjoyment of all her faculties, except being totally blind for five years. She makes her home with her son, William, where her cheery pres- ence and Christian nature adds additional sunshine to the home circle. Four children were born to this worthy couple, three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons, one of whom is the subject of this biography are yet living and residents of this county.
.. William Gage was born February 8, 1852, and has grown to manhood in Grant county where friends of a lifetime esteem and honor him. His education was received in the common schools, supplemented by a short course in the Jonesboro high school. Having come from a generation of farmers it was to be expected that he would make agriculture the business of his life, and those who knew his indomitable will and energy felt that success awaited him. Deprived of his father in early youth he put his shoulder bravely to the wheel and was the mainstay
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of the family until his own marriage, about a quarter of a century ago gave an added impetus to his zeal. His wife is a daugh- ter of Henry and Mary J. ( Hilborn) Chany, and Miss Ina Chany was well and favor- ably known throughout Ashland county, Ohio, where she was born September 7, 1856. She was one of five children who reached mature years, and four are at this time residents of Indiana. Both parents are deceased.
The primary education of Mrs. Gage was received in the common schools and later she was a student in the Marion Nor- mal School, where her close application to her studies enabled her to become one of the most efficient teachers in the community. At the age of sixteen years she took charge of her first school, where she proved herself abundantly able to guide the youthful mind in its successful search after knowledge, and she was soon recognized as one of the most able instructors in Jay and Grant counties. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Gage was solemnized November 6, 1875, and three sons and one daughter have been added to their home. Two sons, both young men of exceeding promise, are left to bless and brighten their fond parents' lives. A short sketch of each appears below.
Mr. Gage is never idle. His farm re- quires close attention to keep it at its pres- ent high state of cultivation, and his public duties also call for much. of his valuable time. He is a stanch Republican and cast his first presidential vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. He has frequently been chosen to represent his party at county and congress- ional conventions, and so well were their wishes carried out that their appreciation of his services was shown when, in 1894,
he was elected to the important office of township trustee, a position he still holds. It has been his earnest endeavor to discharge the duties of this office in a praiseworthy and able manner and the high commendation everywhere spoken of his work speaks ad- mirably of his success. Both he and his estimable wife are friends of education and leave no stone unturned to place it on a higher plane. Only the best teachers, known to be such, are employed, and three beautiful, modern brick school buildings stand as mon- uments of his well directed energy. Mr. Gage is prominent no less in fraternal than in social and political circles, and Arcana Lodge, No. 427, F. & A. M., of Upland, counts him one of its most honored mem- bers. He is also a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He and his wife are members of Walnut Creek church- ' a Friends church which they largely assisted in building in southeast Monroe township.
Harry Gage, eldest son of William and Ina Gage, is a resident of Marion, Indiana, where he is well and favorably known as the genial and trusted bookkeeper of the Big Four Fruit Company, of Marion. In early youth his close application to his studies made him a general favorite with his teach- ers and placed him at the front in his classes. He passed through the different grades of the public schools, taking a most creditable examination and receiving his diploma in March, 1895. He continued his studies in the Normal College of Marion, taking a complete course in teaching, and soon after entered the ranks as an educational in- structor, being at that time but eighteen years of age. Four years were devoted to this pursuit, when, in order to still further fit himself for his duties, he entered the State
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Normal at Terre Haute. The summer of 1899 finds him hard at work in the Voorhees Business College of Indianapolis, where he mastered the intricacies of bookkeeping. His integrity had not been unnoticed and he was tendered the position of bookkeeper with the Big Four Fruit Company, of Marion, a situation he still holds. Being a natural mathematician he is admirably adapted to fulfill the requirements of this office, which is no easy task, while his genial, accommo- dating manner makes it a pleasure to do business with him. He is a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, of Upland.
Clyde C. Gage, the youngest son, is not less promising than his brother, and as a suc- cessful student takes first place in Grant county. He received his diploma from the common school in 1899 and was awarded a Webster's International Dictionary for passing the best examination given in the county. This examination is made very severe and in order to make a satisfactory average the student must retain a varied amount of knowledge. As an example of the high class of work done by him we quote from the class records of the Upland high school, his grade for one term : History, 100; Latin, 99; algebra, 100; and composition, 98. He has a love of natural history, and if his talents in that line were developed there is no doubt but he would become one of the foremost naturalists of his age. He has also dabbled in electricity and under- stands that branch of science sufficiently to make him a successful electrician. He is devoted to his books, of which he has quite a library, and readily gives his preference to history. It is his intention to devote his time to literature and it is the expectation of
those who have watched his advancement to see him become famous in the world of . letters.
DANIEL P. KEENE, M. D.
Daniel P. Keene, the eminent eclectic physician and surgeon of Marion. Grant county, Indiana, and one having a profound knowledge of each and every school of mod- ern medicine, was born in the city of Read- ing, Berks county, Pennsylvania, August 17, 1819, and is a son of Joshua and Rachael (Pyle) Keene, natives of Salem county, New Jersey.
Joshua Keene was a tanner by trade, served two years under General Winfield Scott in the war of 1812, and always voted the Democratic ticket until 1864, when he gave his support to the later martyred Lin- coln. Joshua lost his beloved wife in 1864, she having died in Lakeport. Indiana, at the age of sixty-six years; his own death oc- curred near Three Oaks, Michigan, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, in 1869. The children born to this couple were eleven in number, of whom one die.l in infancy. There was not another death in the family until 1892, when the then surviving "baby" died at the age of fifty-five years, when a reunion of the family took place at the home of James Marion, the youngest son, at South Chicago. Since then three members of the family have been called away, Dr. Daniel P. Keene being the eldest of the survivors.
The eleven children alluded to were born in the following order : Maria A. McDaniel, who died in her eightieth year: Dr. Daniel P .: Elijah H., who died in Elkhart, Indi- ana, of paralysis, at the age of sixty-eight
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years ; George I., who died near West Buffa- lo, LaPorte county, Indiana, when seventy- one years old; Joshua J., who studied medi- cine with his brother, Dr. Daniel P., whose name opens this sketch, and practiced with him sixteen years, and is now in active prac- tice at Lafayette, Indiana, where he has lived for forty-six years; Mary J., who is the widow of Jacob Brown, lives in Misha- waka, Indiana, and is about sixty-eight years old; Rachel Anderson, now sixty-five years old, has been a widow for thirty years, and makes her home in Chicago, Illinois, with her two sons, who are telegraph operators ; James is a traveling salesman of Lafayette, Indiana ; Malinda E., is now the wife of Mr. Mc- Quillan, a retired farmer of LaPorte, Indi- ana; and Martha died at the age of six months.
Dr. Daniel P. Keene received his literary education at Fredericktown, Knox county, studied medicine in Galion and commenced practice in Bellefontaine, all in the state of Ohio, and has been in constant practice for forty-eight years. Of this period he has had successful experience in Tippecanoe and Fountain counties thirty years; at Goshen, Elkhart county, seven years, and seven years in Marion.
In December, 1861, at the age of forty- two years, Dr. Keene enlisted in the Fortieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was one of the oldest to volunteer in the defense of his country. He was detailed to the secret serv- ice for a time, and while thus employed learned that a certain postmaster had ex- pressed joy over the assassination of Presi- dent Lincoln, and had encouraged others to do so. Dr. Keene immediately telegraphed to the third assistant postmaster-general at Washington the facts, and a few hours later
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received orders to seize the post-office, an order which he speedily executed. The Doc- tor also had two brothers in the service- Joshua J. and James, of whom the latter served under General Phil Sheridan as a spy and scout.
Dr. Keene was married in 1845 to Kath- erine Quaintance, with whom he lived forty years and twelve days before the inevitable occurred. She bore him one son and one daughter. The son, Oliver Burgess Keene, has been a traveling salesman at Blooming- ton, Illinois, for fifty-two years, and the daughter, now Mrs. Elmira Knight, has five children, four of whom are married. Mrs. Knight's only son entered the army for the war in the Philippines and has not since been heard from. Dr. Keene has six great-grand- children living in California, Colorado and Iowa.
The second marriage of Dr. Keene took place in Brownsburg, Hendricks county, Indiana, to Mrs. Emma L. Boesel, whose maiden name was Means and who is a native of Pennsylvania. She had been married five or six years to her first husband and had expended a small fortune for medical treat- ment, but Dr. Keene cured her and then married her, she being thirty-two and he sixty-eight years old.
Dr. Keene has made a specialty of chronic diseases, especially cancer, goiter and similar disorders. He is endowed with won- derful power of physical endurance, and al- though over eighty years old would readily pass for a man of sixty-five years or less, and his memory is most wonderfully re- tentive.
In politics the Doctor has long been a Republican, although he cast his first presi- ! dential vote for Martin Van Buren, a Dem-
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ocrat, in 1840. This vote, however, was cast under parental coercion.
When but six years old he was led by the hand by his father and marched at the head of the procession that did honor to Gen- eral LaFayette on his last visit to America.
Dr. Keene has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since 1860, and has passed the prin- cipal chairs in the order. He is also a mem- ber of the G. A. R., in which he has served as chaplain. He was eighty-one years oldl August 17. 1900.
JOHN WILLIAM HOLMES.
In a careful consideration of the truly representative citizens of Van Buren town- ship, Grant county, the biographer must pay particulor attention to the gentleman whose. name introduces this article, being as he is one of those self-made and substantial agri- culturist whose efforts have redounded to the making of the present prosperity enjoyed by the people of this section of the state. No cit- izen of Van Buren township is more favor- ably known or more truly liked than is he whose hosts of warm friends point to him as a model farmer, citizen and gentleman. His desirable home, some three miles north of the village, is in every respect a model one, where the most cordial hospitality is ever extended to all. In many respects he is truly considered a man whose life is well worth study by the coming generation, for the valuable points that may readily be gleaned therefrom. He was born in Green county, Ohio, on the 9th of July, 1825. and is now in consequence merging upon his seventy- sixth year: though with mind unclouded
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and body well preserved, bids fair for a full decade more.
His father was John Holmes, who was a native of New Jersey, as was his father, Jonathan, though his mother Mary was of Irish ancestry. Patience Pew, the mother of John W., was the daughter of Benjamin Pew of Virginia, where she was born, com- ing to New Jersey when but a small child.
About the year 1835, the Holmes family removed to Clinton county, Ohio, migrating, five years later to Delaware county, this state. The parents were highly respected pioneers of that county contributing in no small degree to Delaware county's improve- ment. Each attained advanced years, the father dying at eighty-three, while the mother survived to the extreme age of ninety-two, her demise occurring at Hart- ford City. Longevity was rather a char- acteristic of her family, a brother attaining about the same age.
Of nine children born to them, seven lived to reach maturity, though John is the only resident of this county. His boyhood and youth were not dissimilar to those pe- riods in the lives of most young men reared in the new country, remaining with the fam- ily until after reaching his majority, when he returned to the old home of the family in Ohio. After working for a time he re- turned to the Delaware county home, soon after purchasing a tract of new land upon which he assumed an indebtedness of three hundred dollars, the entire purchase price being four hundred and fifty dollars. Dur- ing the succeeding five years he managed to place about twenty acres in such a state of cultivation as to obtain a comfortable liv- ing therefrom. Meantime, on the 16th of September. 1852, he was united in marriage
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with Miss Barbara Yohe, then aged eighteen, and who was born in Pennsylvania, remov- ing to Ohio when but a child.
Five years after his marriage Mr. Holmes secured his present home farm of one hundred and fifty-one acres, which was but partially cleared, but although in a flat section, had not as yet, been properly drained. To this essential feature of im- provement he set his efforts, as at the time only the higher places were capable of cul- tivation. After securing a suitable outlet, he began the laying of the old style timber ditches, by which he managed to add great- ly to the value of the farm. In a few years these were almost wholly replaced with the more modern and more desirable tile drains, at great expense, thus insuring a farm in first class condition, enabling him to pro- duce crops superior to others. Nearly two thousand rods of this drainage has been laid, reclaiming many places that were before ab- solutely worthless, and converting such into the most fertile spots on the entire farm. Good barns were erected, and in 1881 the present commodious residence was built, thus completing a line of improvement that makes this one of the most valuable farms in the entire township. Two other farms have been added, one lying a half mile dis- tant in Huntington county, and the other some four miles from the home place. To the conduct of these farms he has been almost wholly devoted, but by this devotion to the one enterprise of his life, he became master of the science of agriculture, having taken advantage of the recognized best plan whether in the tillage of the soil, the plant- ino and tending of crops, or in the rotation of crops or handling them after production. It has been a constant practice for him to
keep high grade stock, though he has not posed as a breeder of thoroughbreds. The crops produced are invariably fed on the farm, from forty to eighty head of hogs being sold from the place each season. Ly- ing in the great oil field of Indiana, the farm has been fairly well developed in that respect, there being now seventeen active wells in operation on the two farms, nine on the home place and eight in Huntington county. Among the first sunk in this field were some on his farm about five years since, ten, however, have been placed since Febru- ary, 1900. The output from these wells has far exceeded the fondest expectations, the royalty received by Mr. Holmes run- ning from five to nearly eight hundred dol- lars per month.
After traveling life's pathway together for upward of forty-seven years, this worthy couple were separated by the first death that had occurred in the family, that of the estimable wife, which was on the 27th of De- cember, 1899, after having been a sufferer for about two years. Hers was a noble character, whose whole existence seemed for the benefit of those she loved. She lived to see all or her eleven children reared to honored man and womanhood, the family circle being broken only by her own demise. Herself and husband had been for many years respected members of Otterbein Uni- ted Brethren church, in Huntington county, and had so lived that the noble teachings of the Master shone forth in most resplendent lights in her own character. Few families reflect to greater degree the teachings by word and example of the mother, and none hold the universal esteem of all more fully than do the offspring of this sainted woman.
The children are Wellington Holmes,
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who for many years has been identified as a teacher with the educational growth of the county, and who is the present efficient ex- press agent and popular justice of the peace at Van Buren; William R. is a successful farmer of Huntington county; Julia Ann is Mrs. Lewis Johnson, who operates one of her father's farms; Charles F. and Even T. are farming near he told home; Mary Margaret is the wife of George Lowry; Flora is the wife of John F. Martin, and Belle is that of Ezra Porter, all of Huntington county, except Mrs. J. F. Martin, who resides in Wa- bash county; Nellie married Charles Grif- fith, who is identified with the oil industry. Henry W. and George are at the old home, the former operating it. His wife was Miss Sadie Gundy, and they have one child, Hazel. Forty-three grand and two great- grandchildren already claim Mr. Holmes as their common ancestor. This venerable and venerated gentleman has ever so lived that he could at least feel entitled to the reward of having the name of having done as he would that others should do, and while never loud in his protestations of social unctious- ness has tried that the world should be bet- ter by his having lived. He has held te- naciously to the views he espoused, but has ever accorded to others the privilege he him- self wished to enjoy. While ready upon all occasions to give a reason for the faith that was in him, he has not distinguished himself by his efforts to bring others to his way of thinking.
His youth being passed during the for- mative period of the nation, he early be- came much interested in the questions of public polity of the time, identifying him- self with that great party of human lib- erty and individual freedom-the Demo-
cratic. When the leaders of that party al- lowed other questions to blind them to per- sonal worth and liberty, and that idea be- came the sole basis of a new party, he threw his allegiance with the new organi- zation. He was ever active in the party councils, though not what is often termed a politician, having no aspiration to the emoluments of office. When the question of prohibition became uppermost in men's minds, and he felt that a decided stand was necessary, he began the advocacy of the principles of the Prohibition party, identifying himself with the organization in 1886.
Now that the efforts of a life have been so fully blessed, the demands of family, of church, of the community have been creditably met and the weight of years be- gins to press with afflictions, he has turned from the cares of the world to more con- stant consideration of the great beyond; and, while he finds ample enjoyment in the society of the old friends and of his chil- dren, he would not defer the coming of the summons the answer to which would again unite him to her with whom so many hap- py years were passed.
JAMES R. MAYN.
James R. Mayn, a substantial and highly respected farmer of Richland township, Grant county. Indiana, was born in Deca- tur county, this state. January 1. 1850, and is a son of Hugh and Mary (Dale) Mayn.
Hugh Mavn, father of James R., was born in county Down, Ireland, a son of John and Jane (Shaw) Mayn, and when
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young was brought to America by his par- ents, who landed in Baltimore, and crossed the country by wagon to Maysville, Ken- tucky, and thence came to Indiana, and first located in Decatur county, whence they came to Richland township, Grant county, and here his parents died.
Mrs. Mary (Dale) Mayn, mother of James R., was born in Abbeville district, South Carolina, a daughter of William and Isabelle (Foster) Dale, who came from the Palmetto State to Decatur county, Indiana, in 1832. William Dale was a farmer or planter, and he and wife both died in De- catur county.
To the marriage of John and Jane (Shaw) Mayn were born six sons, viz. : Hugh, father of James R. ; Samuel, who lives in Tipton, Indiana; John, who died in Gree- ley, Colorado, in November, 1896; George, who was a soldier in the Mexican war, died while in the service at Pueblo; William died in Maysville, Kentucky, and James died in Sweetser, Indiana.
Hugh Mayn, just after his marriage, lo- cated on the farm on which his son, James R., now resides, the year being 1847, and the scene a wilderness. He cleared up and improved the place, and cultivated it until his retirement to Sweetser, having through his industry and good management secured a competency.
James R. Mayn, the only child born to Hugh and Mary Mayn, was reared on this homestead and inherited all his father's ex- cellent habits and energy, as well as his property. James R. was educated in the dis .. trict school and was a bright scholar, but the greater portion of his early manhood was devoted to aiding in the clearing up and im- provement of the homestead, and he now
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