USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume II > Part 18
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Mr. Humphreys has been twice married, the first
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time on April 5, 1877, to Mattie Jackson, daughter of Dr. Evan and Susanna Jackson, who departed this life February 10, 1879, after less than two years of mutually happily wedded experience, the union resulting in the birth of one child, Guy Henderson Humphreys, now one of the most brilliant young attorneys of Bloom- field and a rising lawyer of the state. The career of the young man, though brief, has been attended by success such as few of much longer experience attain, and since beginning the practice of his profession he has moved steadily forward to a commanding position at a bar long noted for its high order of legal talent. and now has a patronage second to few of the attorneys at the county seat. Mr. Humphreys' second marriage was solemnized May 13, 1883, with Eva Schloot, whose birth occurred on the 29th of May, 1858, and who has borne him five children, namely: Willard. Horace, Anna E., Andrew and Trella Ruth.
Politically Mr. Humphreys is a Democrat, and while wielding a strong influence for his party, he cannot be termed a politician, much less an office seeker, never having aspired to public honors or leadership at the hands of his fellow citizens. Like the majority of en- terprising and public-spirited men, he is a member of the ancient and honorable order of Free and Accepted Masons, in addition to which he is also identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while the Bap- tist church represents his religious faith, and his wife being a consistent and respected member of the German Reformed church.
As a citizen, Mr. Humphreys holds a position which
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but few ever reach. No man perhaps who has attained to a high standing among the people of his county ever did less than he for the purpose of courting popularity. His motives have ever been lofty, his integrity unques- tioned and his mind of that self-relying and independent stamp which goes forward towards the accomplishment of its ends for their own sake-because it seems they are wise and good-and does not stop from motives of policy or very often to inquire what others may think of them or him. This is a characteristic of every man of commanding influence. He acts with reference to laud- able ends, nor when he has acted does he pause to gather up his reward of human praise. He leaves the action to speak for itself and goes about the even tenor of his way, anticipating the wants of the community, and to the ex- tent of his ability supplying the same generously and un- sparingly. In his intercourse with his fellow citizens of all classes he is frank and direct, but ever kind and cour- teous. Perfectly simple and unostentatious in all his habits, warm and confiding in his friendships, sagacious and independent in thought, punctual in all his engage- ments, modest and unassuming, yet courageous and dig- nified, and of strong personality, he bears about him every mark of the gentleman and the man of business and presents as fair a model as can be found for the en- couragement of the youth who have friends, fame, and fortune, yet to win, for his example proves that there is no royal road to success and that one must be able to go it alone if the high altitudes of life are reached.
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JOSEPH EMMETT TURNER.
Good newspaper men, like poets, are born, not made. The complex duties of a newspaper man require the ut- most in energy, courage and judgment, as well as that undefinable quality we call tact. A journalist has many opportunities denied those in other walks of life. His relation to the community is one of responsibility. His profession makes him a public man and his opinion upon leading topics becomes of paramount importance to his community. A chronicler of events, a dispenser of news, he is also the greatest factor in molding public opinion.
To assume such onerous duties with gravity and prove true to the loftiest ideals should be the ambition of every aspiring journalist who accepts success in the larger and broader sense.
It is our mission to briefly sketch here the life and labor of one who in all these varied relations has met them with unflinching zeal and rare ability-one whose heart and brain and versatile pen have ever been enlisted in behalf of the community that bore him.
Joseph E. Turner, editor and publisher of the Lin- ton Daily Citizen, was born in Linton, March 21, 1873, the youngest of three children born to the union of Thomas A. Turner and Sarah ( Moss) Turner, the latter a daughter of the late Hon. W. G. Moss, of Greene county. The father was a native of the Old Dominion, being born in Pulaski county, Virginia, and served with distinction in the Civil war as a member of Company K. Third Maryland Cavalry. He died in Linton, August 5, 1906. The other two children of this union are de-
JOSEPH E. TURNER.
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ceased. William F. Turner died September 9, 1871, at the age of two years, and Laura A., wife of William J. Hamilton, died January 9, 1892.
Joe was educated in the Linton schools, graduating with honor in 1889. He entered newspaper work at eleven years of age and has ever since been identified with such work. A brief summary of his editorial work fol- lows: Laconic, 1890; the Linton Call, 1893 ; editor Ly- ons Herald, 1904; city editor Bedford Daily Democrat, 1901-02 ; managing editor Brazil Daily Miner, 1901 ; the Linton Record, 1900; secretary-treasurer Linton Call Company, 1904-05; staff correspondent Louisville Cou- rier-Journal, 1906. He established the Linton Weekly Citizen in 1906 and the Daily Citizen in 1907.
Mr. Turner's editorial work reflects a brilliancy of mind rarely met with outside metropolitan centers. He conducts an independent Democratic paper, expressing his views on current topics in an able and fearless manner. The organ of no sect, the champion of no special interests, the paper is void of all clamor and is clean and outspoken on all matters pertaining to the public welfare. The me- chanical equipment of the office is second to none in southern Indiana, only the most modern machinery being used.
Mr. Turner was married November 20, 1900, to Gertrude Cox, daughter of William Cox, of Chicago, who died in 1907. To them was born (December 19, 1904), one son, Eskin Cox Turner, who survives. On October 25, 1902, he was married to Miss Julia E. Mavity, daugh- ter of Charles Mavity, of Linton. A son, Loren Adolphus, born January 27, 1905, died in infancy.
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Mr. Turner was elected clerk and treasurer of the city of Linton on the Democratic ticket in 1898 and served his official term with honor and distinction. In 1905 he was his party's nominee for city councilman-at- large, but voluntarily withdrew before election on account of business interests which would, in his opinion, con- flict with the conscientious discharge of his duties.
Fraternally Mr. Turner is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World, Red Men and the Sons of Veterans. He was the first great sachem of the local lodge of Red Men, which office he filled with distinction.
HON. CHARLES E. HENDERSON.
In no profession is there greater need of talent than that of the law and in no field of endeavor is there de- manded a more careful preparation or more thorough appreciation of the ethics of life or of the underlying principles which form the basis of human rights and privileges. Unflagging application and intuitive wisdom with the determination fully to utilize the means at hand are among the concomitants which insure success and. prestige in this great profession, which among all civ- ilized peoples stands as the stern conservator of justice. It is a calling in which none should engage without a recognition of the obstacles to be encountered and over-
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come and the battles to be won, for success does not at- tend every person who enters the competitive fray, but comes only as the legitimate result of capability and painstaking endeavor. Possessing all the requisite quali- ties of the able lawyer and the calm, well-balanced mind essential to success in the higher sphere of the judicial tribunal, Hon. Charles E. Henderson, of Bloomfield, present judge of the fourteenth judicial circuit, stands today among the leading men of his profession in Greene county, besides attaining high standing in other than the particular field to which his practice in the main has been devoted. A strong mentality, an invincible courage, to- gether with thorough intellectual and professional train- ing, have so entered into his composition as to make him a natural leader of men, not only in the calling with which his life has thus far been identified, but in the pub- lic affairs of his county and state, in which he has ever wielded a strong and rapidly growing influence.
Judge Henderson is proud to claim the grand old commonwealth of Indiana as his native soil and, like oth- ers of her distinguished sons, he manifests a pardonable pride in her history and development and is always ready to sound her praises as one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of states. The family of which he is an honorable representative, is of English origin and figured in the early history of one of the eastern states, from which his grandfather, Charles R. Henderson, migrated to In- diana many years ago and settled in Greene county some time during the pioneer period. Thomas A. Henderson, son of Charles R. and father of the judge, was born in Decatur county, Indiana, and when a young man married
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Nettie Markel, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Peter Markel. a veteran of the Civil war, who departed this life a few years ago in San Bernardino, California. Charles R. Henderson moved to Greene county in 1872 and en- gaged in the hardware trade with his son, Thomas A., under the firm name of Henderson & Son. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Henderson consists of four children, whose names are as follows: Charles E., the subject of this memoir; Arthur, who lives in the village of Petersburg; Nellie and Leon, whose present place of residence is St. Cloud, in the state of Minnesota.
Judge Charles E. Henderson was born January 31. 1871, in St. Paul, Indiana, but when a mere child was brought to Greene county, where he received his early educational discipline, attending during his youth the schools at Bloomfield. Later, in 1886, he accompanied his parents on their removal to Oregon and the follow- ing year entered the university of that state, which he attended six consecutive years without a day's absence, making substantial progress in his studies during that time and earning an honorable record as a close and critical student. The regular term at the above institu- tion was nine months, and during the remainder of each year he worked in a tin shop, thus assisting to defray the expenses of his university course, besides acquiring con- siderable proficiency and skill as a mechanic. Actuated by a laudable ambition to add to his scholastic knowledge so as to fit himself for the profession in which he subse- quently achieved such signal success, Mr. Henderson prosecuted his studies and researches until completing the full course, being graduated with the degree of Bachelor
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of Arts on June 22d of the year 1893. Subsequently, without any solicitation whatever on his part, indeed without his knowledge, the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater, this signal honor indicating not only the superior character of his scholarship and work, but also his high personal stand- ing and popularity with the officials and faculty of the university, between whom and himself the most friendly and cordial relations had always obtained. Shortly after his graduation he returned to the East and during the summer and fall of 1893 was chair boy at the World's Columbian Exhibition, in Chicago, after which engage- ment he came to Bloomfield and the ensuing winter taught a term of school in Cass township, the remuneration for which he afterwards used to defray the expenses of his course in the law.
By husbanding his earnings with the most careful economy, Mr. Henderson, in 1894, found himself the possessor of sufficient means to carry into effect a desire of long standing, to prepare himself for the legal profes- sion, accordingly in the fall of that year he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where, by diligent and painstaking application, he completed the usual two years' course in one year, grad- uating in 1895 with a creditable standing among the brightest members of his class. Fortified by thorough mental and professional training for the calling to which he proposed to devote his life, he set about the achieve- ment of his heart's desire without delay, by entering, soon after his graduation, the office of Emerson Short, of Bloomfield, where, from the very first day, he proved
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decidedly successful in gaining clients and adding to the business of the firm. Rising rapidly to an influential standing in the profession, he soon established an enviable reputation for the manner in which he secured business, and such was his record for bringing his cause to a suc- cessful conclusion, that within an incredibly brief period he had a practice second to no other young attorney in the city, his name appearing in connection with most of the important litigation in Greene county during the seven or eight years following his admission to the bar. By reason of his influence and success in legal matters and his popularity with the people, Judge Henderson very naturally gravitated toward politics, and in due time became one of the acknowledged Republican leaders in Greene county. In 1896 he was nominated for the legis- lature and he carried the county by a very decisive vote. defeating Seymour Riddle, the candidate of both Demo- cratic and Populist parties and establishing a reputation as a campaigner that made him feared as a political an- tagonist from that year to the present time. His victory over a very popular opponent and that, too, when inter- est in the Democratic and Populist principles was at its height, and success seemed assured, was a signal one, the strength developed by his candidacy, proving a surprise not only to the opposition but to the leaders of his own party as well, none of whom at the beginning of the cam- paign entertained very sanguine hopes of overcoming the well-organized coalition.
Entering the legislature with the prestige of a bril- liant victory. Judge Henderson at once began taking an active part in its deliberations and was soon one of the
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influential Republican leaders of the body. In addition to serving on a number of important committees and bearing his full share of the more public deliberations on the floor, he was chosen secretary of the house caucus and joint caucus of his party that nominated Charles W. Fairbanks for the United States senate, his activity and influence being such as to attract attention and won for him a conspicuous place in the public gaze. His record as a law-maker was creditable to himself and honorable to his constituency and at the expiration of his term he retired with the good will of the people of his county, irrespective of political allignment, Democrats as well as Republicans recognizing his ability and integrity and ex- pressing themselves not only satisfied with his course, but honored by the brilliant record which he made. ,
In the year 1898 Judge Henderson formed a law partnership with Colonel Aden G. and William L. Cav- ins which lasted until 1904, and which, during the in- terim, was not only the strongest and most successful legal firm in Greene county, but one of the best known and most influential in the southern part of the state. During the two years following his retirement from this partnership, Mr. Henderson practiced alone and built up a large and lucrative business, but at the expiration of that time his party again conferred upon him a signal honor by nominating him, in the year 1906, for judge of the fourteenth judicial circuit, composed of the coun- ties of Greene and Sullivan. In the ensuing election he again faced a formidable opposition in a normal Demo- cratic majority of one thousand together and the infor- mation that no Republican had ever been chosen to the
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bench in that district. notwithstanding which he entered the contest determined to do all within his power to up- hold his cause and if possible undermine the strength op- posed to him. The campaign was, indeed, an animated and exciting one, but personal popularity, backed by the prestige of former success, carried the day, and for the first time in its history the old fourteenth circuit was honored by a Republican judge, except George W. Buff. who was elected in another circuit and the legislature changed the circuit. making Vigo county a circuit by itself and Greene and Sullivan constituting the four- teenth. The distinction achieved as a practitioner at the bar enabled Judge Henderson to come to the bench well qualified to discharge the duties of the position and since taking the office he has won a conspicuous place in the esteem of lawyers. litigants and the general public. his career thus far being an eminently honorable one and fully meeting the high expectations of his friends and justifying the wisdom of his choice.
As a lawyer, Judge Henderson easily stands in the front rank of his profession in his county. At the begin- ning of his legal studies he made a thoroughli elementary preparation, and possessing a disciplined mind and a well- trained and retentive memory. combined with brilliant tact and readiness of manner, he is enabled to make in- stantly available all his learning and experience. with the result that he seldom fails to win victories for his clients. He excels both as an advocate and as a coun- selor and it is largely to this happy union and blending of all the qualities necessary to a good practitioner that has made him so successful in his profession and won for
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him the high and responsible position which he now holds and which he so signally honors. The Judge was a dele- gate from the second congressional district to the Re- publican national convention at Chicago in 1908.
First of all, he has the integrity of character without which. however brilliant his attainments, no man can worthily fill a place fraught with so many responsibilities and to which the people look as the arbiter of their rights. He also possesses the natural ability and essential require- ments, the acumen of the judicial temperament. and is able to divest himself of prejudice of favoritism and con- sider only the legal and technical aspects of matters sub- mitted to him. Judge Henderson is in the prime of life and the full vigor and strength of his mental powers and bids fair to live many years and to achieve still greater distinction and honor in the noble field of endeavor to which his time and energies are being devoted. His highest ambition has been to excel in the line of his pro- fession, to attain to a thorough understanding and mas- tery of legal science and to this end with a singleness of purpose, he has directed the untiring industry and energies of a life-time.
The domestic chapter in Judge Henderson's history dates from September 30. 1896, when he was happily married to Margaret Cavins. daughter of Colonel Aden G. Cavins, of Bloomfield, the union being blessed with two children: Amelia, born the 6th day of August. 1898, and Laurens Livingston, whose birth occurred Sep- tember 7th. of the year 1901. The domestic life of the Judge and his estimable wife is all that the most critical and exacting could desire. their interests being mutual
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and their home the center of a refined circle composed of the most cultured people of the city in which they live. Mrs. Henderson comes of one of the old and highly es- teemed families of Greene county, her father, one of the most distinguished men of the state, being an influ- ential citizen of Bloomfield and a leader in the various lines of thought and enterprise that have given the city its wide publicity and the honorable reputation which it enjoys as the center of education and culture second to no other city of the size in Indiana. Primarily a lawyer and making his interests as such paramount to every other consideration, Judge Henderson has not been un- mindful of his duty to the community and the obligations which he owes to the public. Aside from the pressing claims of his profession and duties of his office, he has done much to promote the material development of Bloomfield and Greene county, being identified with a number of enterprises which in addition to advancing the business interests of the city, have added not a little to the liberal income of which he is the recipient. Among these is the Henderson Lumber Company, with which he is associated and which owns eight thousand acres of fine timber land in Arkansas, where a large manufacturing plant has been established, the business of the company being very extensive and steadily growing in magnitude and importance. He is also a director and large stock- holder in the New Union Lumber Company, of Linton. and secretary and director of the American Post Com- pany, of Bloomfield, besides owning valuable real estate in those cities and large holdings in Jasonville and else- where, his various property interests representing many
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heavy investments and making him one of the financially strong and reliable men of his part of the state. The Judge is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine and for a number of years has been prom- inent in the affairs of the order in Greene county, hav- ing been honored with high official positions from time to time and exercising an influence in Masonic circles second to that of none of his compeers. He is also iden- tified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen, in all of which his services have been valuable and greatly ap- preciated.
Personally, Judge Henderson is a man of splendid presence, being over six feet in height, with a well-knit, symmetrically developed body, strong personality and dignified demeanor. He is easily approachable and a most courteous and affable gentleman, popular with all classes and conditions of his fellow citizens.
Judge Henderson commenced life with only that in- heritance and resource so often the sole dependence of the sturdy western boy, viz., himself. By strict integrity, laborious study, energetic action and devotion to the du- ties and business of the profession he assumed, he has raised himself to rank among the foremost men of his state and brought no small honor to the dignified posi- tion which he now so ably and faithfully fills. Beloved with a fervent warmth of attachment by all who know him personally and respected by men of all parties, he stands today, though still a young man, at the head of his profession in the southern part of the state and the acknowledged leader of the political party with which he
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affiliates. In the coming future, there are no honors to which he may not aspire and no place which he would not fill with dignity and honor to himself and credit to his state and country.
ISAAC BROWN.
It is a pleasure to record the life of any good man, whose deeds are those of pleasant memory ; when united with incidents of great courage and bravery, admiration is created, and it is with increased delight that we review such characters. Our subject was the son of William and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Brown, and was born in Martin county, Indiana, October 5, 1843. The father came from Virginia and the mother from North Carolina. William Brown never knew his parents, for the father died four months before he was born and the mother when he was but seven days old. He was taken to Tennessee by an older brother on a farm. When about eighteen years of age he came to Lawrence county, Indiana, and was em- ployed by Isaac Mitchell, for whom he worked until Au- gust 22, 1833, and then married his daughter, Elizabeth. Buying a wild tract of land in Martin county, he moved thereto and soon had a respectable farm. In 1846 he sold out and moved to Greene county and settled on a farm in Wright township, where he remained until his death in 1889. His wife preceded him in 1876. They were members of the Baptist church. He was first a Whig and then a Republican in politics. They had twelve
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children : Fanny, Jacob and Sarah, deceased ; Isaac, our subject; Harrison and Joseph, living in Wright town- ship; Nancy, wife of Joseph Humphrey, now living in Spencer, Owen county; James; Anna, deceased wife of Benjamin Shaughter; George is on the old homestead in Wright township; Noah and Mary Jane, the oldest of the family, died in Martin county.
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