Biographical memoirs of Wells County, Indiana : embracing a comprehensive compendium of local biography, memoirs of representative men and women of the county whose works of merit have made their names imperishable, and special articles by Hugh Dougherty [et al.], Part 50

Author: Dougherty, Hugh
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Logansport, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 732


USA > Indiana > Wells County > Biographical memoirs of Wells County, Indiana : embracing a comprehensive compendium of local biography, memoirs of representative men and women of the county whose works of merit have made their names imperishable, and special articles by Hugh Dougherty [et al.] > Part 50


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JOEL KEMP.


The importance that attaches to the lives, character and work of the early settlers of


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Wells county and the influence they have exerted upon the cause of hu- manity and civilization is one of the most absorbing themes that can possibly attract the attention of the local chronicler or historian. If great and beneficent results -results that endure and benefit mankind- are the proper measure of the good men do, then who is there in the world's history that may take their places above the hardy pio- neer. To point out the way, to make pos- sible our present advancing civilization, its happy homes, its arts and sciences, its dis- coveries and inventions, its education, liter- ature and culture, its refinement and social life and joy, is to be the truly great bene- factors of mankind for all time. This was the great work accomplished by the early settlers and it is granted by all that they builded more wisely than they knew. Admit that but few ever realized in the dimmest way the transcendant possibilities that rest- ed upon their shoulders ; grant it that their lives, except in certain instances, were some- what narrow and that they realized but little the great results that ultimately crowned their efforts; yet there exists the supreme fact that they followed their restless im- pulses, took their lives in their-hands, pene- trated the wilderness and with a patient energy, resolution and self-sacrifice that stands alone and unparalleled, they worked out their allotted tasks, accomplished their destinies and today their descendants and others enjoy undisturbed the fruitage of their labors.


Prominent among the worthy represen- tatives of the pioneer element in the county of Wells is the well-known gentleman to a review of whose life the attention of the reader is now directed. For many years


Joel Kemp has been a forceful factor in the growth and prosperity of Harrison town- ship, and as such his name and reputation have extended far beyond the limits of the locality in which the greater part of his life has been spent. The subject's father was born in Maryland and his mother in Vir- ginia. Their respective families emigrated to Clark county, Ohio, and there Solomon Kemp and Elizabeth Baker were united in marriage. The former owned a farm in Ohio, but in 1839 he came to Wells county and there bought of Abe Studabaker a farm of two hundred and twelve acres situated in section 3, Harrison township, paying for the same one thousand dollars. He entered actively upon the operation of this farm and made it his home until his death in 1850. They were the parents of eight children, three boys and five girls, of whom there are now but two surviving, the subject and Amanda, the wife of Abe Neuswander. The father willed all the land to the sub- ject.


After his father's death Joel Kemp paid the other heirs for their interest in the home farm and he is now the owner of one hundred and sixty-two acres of the original farm. In his youth the only educational ad- vantages he received were those to be ob- tained in the subscription schools of the neighborhood, but to the limited mental training he there acquired he has added by wide reading and close observation of men and events, so that today he is a thoroughly well-informed man and able to converse in- teligently on all the leading questions of the day. At first the only habitation on the farm was a log cabin, but the subject later replaced that with the comfortable and com- modious residence in which he now lives.


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He made many inprovements upon the place and by long years of earnest toil and wise management brought it up to a high stand- ard of excellence. He has not confined him- self strictly to one line of farming, but has been diversified in his operations, as all pro- gressive agriculturists should be, and has found a comfortable competence in the prod- ucts of the soil.


Mr. Kemp was united in marriage with Miss Mahala Deam, the daughter of John A. Deam. The Deam family came from Montgomery county, Ohio, to Wells county, in February, 1839, but Mrs. Kemp was born in the former county. This union was bless- ed with one child, Alice Olive, who is now the wife of George Studabaker, ex-auditor of Wells county. Politically Mr. Kemp is a Democrat, but, while taking a keen interest in the party's success, bears no active part in its campaigns, being content with the casting of an honest ballot. Fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the subordinate lodge at Bluffton. Mr. Kemp, by a life of right living and strenuous endeavor, has earned a warm place in the hearts of all who know him. He is a devout lover of all that is pure, true and good, and is ever ready to encourage that which is good and to support that which is best. All find in him a friend and helper. He is neighborly and brotherly, candid, frank, sincere and generous, as well as kind and courteous. By the exercise of these qualities he has been blessed with a large number of warm personal friends and even mere acquaintances respect him for his exemplary life. Mr. Kemp has in his pos- session two parchment deeds, executed No- vember 7, 1835, and bearing the signature of President Andrew Jackson.


JACOB JEFFERSON TODD.


Among the distinguished jurists of Indiana the name of the late Jacob Jefferson Todd, of Bluffton, has long been accorded a prominent place. As an erudite lawyer his standing at the head of the Wells county bar was never questioned, and as a public spirited man of affairs his place in the his- tory of his county and state is prominently and permanently fixed. Few so impressed their personality upon the people and in every relation of life he moved among his fellow men as one born to leadership.


In tracing the genealogy of Mr. Todd it, is learned that he was descended from a long line of sturdy and honorable ancestors, which, both in the lineal and collateral branches, have been prominent in the history of the nation, the family having been identi- fied with colonial affairs for many years an- tecedent to the war for independence. His father, Jacob Todd, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1805, the youngest child of Samuel and Lucy (Shiv- ers) Todd, who were the parents of seven sons and seven daughters. Samuel Todd's father was Alexander Todd, one of the ear- liest settlers of Baltimore county, Maryland, and a man of much more than local reputa- tion. When a young man, Jacob Todd mar- ried Jane Thomas, whose birth occurred in Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 2nd day of January, 1807, she being the eldest of a family of twelve children, three sons and nine daughters, born to Enos and Margaret (Cameron) Thomas, the former a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and a son of Seth and Martha (Kirk) Thomas, and the latter the daughter of Lewis and Francis (Suter) Cameron. Briefly stated, the origin


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of the several elements in the genealogical line are as follows: The Todds were of Scotch-Irish extraction; the Shivers of Scotch origin. Seth Thomas was a native of Wales, while the Kirk family was of Quaker descent, its first American repre- sentatives having come from England in 1682 as members of William Penn's colony, which settled in Philadelphia. Louis Cam- eron was born and reared in the highlands of Scotland, his wife, Francis Suter, having been a native of Linconshire, England. The marriage of Jacob Todd and Jane Thomas was solemnized January 14, 1830, and their union was blessed with eleven children, con- cerning whom the following is a brief re- cord : (1) Samuel, the oldest son, was born October 24, 1830, married, May II, 1853, Rebecca Isabelle, who bore him children, Lizzie J., wife of John C. Anderson, Samuel T., deceased, and two that died in infancy. Samuel T. Todd departed this life January II, 1850. (2) John Wesley, the second in order of birth, was born April 19, 1832, married Abigail Glas, who died August 24, 1859, leaving a daughter, Mary Jane; the only son of this marriage died in infancy unnamed. John W. Todd married for his second wife Angeline Biddle, who became the mother of three sons and five daughters. During the war of the Rebellion John W. served as second lieutenant in Company G, One Hundred and First Indiana Infantry, and distinguished himself as a brave and gallant soldier. (3) Lucy was born Febru- ary II, 1834, and married Asa McDaniel, who died July 15, 1855, leaving one son, John T. Subsequently Mrs. McDaniel be- came the wife of Nathan Tobey and bore him four sons and two daughters. (4) Mar- garet' Ann, born June 28, 1836, married


Calvin Biddle, to whom she bore two sons and two daughters. (5) Uriah was born on the 5th of August, 1838, entered the mar- riage relation with Lois Smitley and died April 14, 1880, leaving two sons and two daughters, three having died in infancy. Uriah Todd was a soldier in the late Civil war, entering the army in 1861 as private in Captain Barber's company, Fourteenth Ohio Cavalry, for the three months service. Later he became second lieutenant of Com- pany K, Seventy-fifth Indiana Infantry, and was afterwards first lieutenant of Company H, First United States Regulars. It is a fact worthy of note that he was the first citizen of Wells county to enlist for service in the Union army. (6) Mary Jane was born September 26, 1840; she became the wife of Samuel Bowman, bore him nine children, three dying in infancy, and depart- ed this life on the 24th of April, 1878. (7) Jacob Jefferson, whose name furnishes the caption of this article, was the seventh in order of birth. (8) Nancy, whose birth oc- curred October 9, 1845, married John V. Allen, a member of Company A, Thirty- fourth Indiana Infantry, in the late war, and became the mother of one son and one daughter. (9) Elizabeth Ellen, born De- cember 22, 1847, married Ransom Allen, a union resulting in the birth of two sons and two daughters. Mr. Allen was also a soldier during the late Rebellion, serving as a pri- vate in Company A, Thirteenth Indiana In- fantry. (10) Simpson was born August 5, 1851 ; he took to wife Harriet E. Hoover. who presented him with one son and one daughter. He departed this life in April, 1896. (II) Bathsheba Isodene, the young- est of the family, was born on the 18th day of September, 1885. By her marriage with


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John A. Glass she had five children, of whom two sons and one daughter are living.


Immediately after their marriage Jacob and Jane Todd took up their abode on a farm in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and con- tinued to reside there until 1851. In that year Mr. Todd disposed of his homestead and joined the tide of emigration to north- eastern and northwestern Indiana. The long journey to the new home was made in the primitive manner peculiar to that per- iod, the equipment consisting of a covered wagon and buggy and in this way, after en- countering many obstacles and meeting with many interesting experiences in the dense and in many places almost trackless forests, the family finally, on the 12th day of Octo- ber, 1851, unloaded their few effects at what was destined to be their future place of abode. Mr. Todd settled on the northwest quarter of section 19, township 28 north, range 12 east, in what is now the highly favored and prosperous county of Wells. The farm upon which he located was yet a portion of an unbroken forest and the prospect at the time was anything but encouraging. Nothing daunted, however, every member of the fam- ily capable of doing manual labor set valiant- ly to work to improve and reclaim from nature's grasp the rich and bountiful benefices she had in store. Coming here a poor man, Mr. Todd was enabled by in- dustry, frugality and excellent management to develop a fine farm and attain a high de- gree of success in the pursuit of agriculture and the accumulation of wealth. He was a man of broad intelligence and progressive ideas and in many respects stood far in ad- vance of the majority of men of his neigh- borhood. While the average farmer of that period was content to follow the drudge-


like work and give no thought to the future, his superior judgment far transcended such narrow and sordid limitation, his aim being to more than keep pace with progress and im- provement in the community, and he moved among his neighbors and fellow citizens as a natural leader. He was always honored for his unswerving integrity in thought, word and deed, for his vigorous and force- ful individuality and for his eminent spirit of justice and charity as exhibited in his daily intercourse with his fellow man. Mr.


Todd was a symmetrically developed man, strong mentally, incorruptible morally and


physically a prince among his fellows, being six feet one and a half inches and weighing about two hundred pounds. He lived a life of signal honor and usefulness, exerted a powerful influence for good in the com- munity and upon all with whom he came in contact, and in his death, which occurred on the 3rd of November, 1861, the county lost one of its noblest pioneers and most in- telligent citizens, while to posterity was be- stowed the priceless heritage of a good name and an honorable reputation. Mr. Todd was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church and exemplified in his daily walk the faith which he professed. He and his wife became identified with the denomi- nation soon after their marriage, their re- spective parents having also been Methodists and noted for their piety and activity in dis- seminating the truths of revealed religion among those with whom they mingled. Mrs. Todd survived her husband a number of years, departing this life on the 5th of June, 1888, at the old homestead hallowed by so many tender recollections and sacred associ- ations. To her were accorded the filial solicitude and veneration of her children and


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her children's children. Her life was one of signal purity and beauty and her generosity and sympathetic character endeared her to all who came within the sphere of her gentle, loving influence.


Reverting specifically to the life of Jacob Jefferson Todd, it is learned that he was born on the old family homestead in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1843. . When less than eight years of age he came with his parents to Wells county, Indiana, and grew to maturity amid the pioneer scenes of Jefferson township, lending in his youth effective assistance in clearing and im- proving the eighty acres which constituted the original farm. His preliminary educa- tional advantages were such as the district schools afforded, after which he was enabled to prosecute his studies for a time in Roanoke Seminary, Huntington county, and still later in a college at Fort Wayne. His was not a nature to tolerate subjective inactivity, accordingly he forthwith pro- ceeded to put his intellectual acquirements to a practical test by engaging in the work of teaching, a vocation to which he devoted his attention during the winter months from 1861 to 1866 inclusive, winning an enviable reputation as an able and popular educator. Essentially loyal and patriotic, Mr. Todd was one of the first of Wells county's brave sons to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers when the perpetuity of the government was threatened by the armed hosts of treason in 1860. The thundering of the rebel guns against Fort Sumter struck a responsive protest in his heart, and his courage was that of his convictions, for in August, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry. By reason of impaired health he was not able to pass


the physical examination prerequisite to ad- mission to the service, which fact caused him no little disappointment and chagrin. Thus forced to limit his efforts to such assistance as he could render the cause aside from the scene of action, he was constrained to bide his time until he should have sufficiently re- covered his health to go to the front. In April, 1864, he again enlisted, this time with better success, becoming a member of Com- pany D, One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which, during the summer of that year, served under Gen. Milroy at Tullahoma and Duck River Bridge in the railroad defense department. He served with distinction until the follow- ing October when he was honorably dis- charged, after which he returned home and again resumed the peaceful pursuit of civil life. Having attained his majority, he cast his first ballot that fall for Oliver P. Morton, the war governor of Indiana, and the following November had the satisfaction of depositing a vote for Abraham Lincoln, who that year was elected for the second time President of the United States.


In March, 1865, Mr. Todd was appoint- ed assessor of Jefferson township, in which capacity he served one year, this being the beginning of his public and official career. On the 4th of April following he began the work of preparing himself for the law, for which exacting profession he had previously decided. Reading under the direction of competent instructors, he pursued his studies with so much earnestness and zeal that he was able to secure admission to the bar on the 22nd day of May, 1866. It is a signifi- cant fact that he studied law in the same of- fice in which he afterwards practiced so successfully for a period of more than thirty


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years, a case without parallel in the history of the Wells county bar. Opening an office in Bluffton in 1868, he gained prestige by rapidly successive degrees and soon built up a large and lucrative practice in the courts of Wells and neighboring counties, which always exemplified a clientele of represent- ative order. The interim between his ad- mission to the bar and the time of beginning the practive was filled by an incumbency as deputy internal revenue collector for Wells county, and in March, 1868, he was further honored by being elected clerk of the cor- poration of Bluffton, serving one year in the latter capacity.


In his political affiliations Mr. Todd was a stalwart supporter of the Republican party, and his services were enlisted to good ef- fect in promoting and greatly furthering its interests. He early became a judicious counsellor and an industrious worker, while his leadership was duly recognized and fully appreciated during the many years of his ac- tive career as a forceful factor in local, state and national politics. He was appointed alternate delegate to the national Republi- can convention at Philadelphia in June, 1872, and was a delegate to the national convention at Chicago in 1880, which nomi- nated Garfield and Arthur, being a member of the committee on permanent organization. In 1882 he was a member of the committee on resolutions at the Republican state con- vention and he urged with great earnestness and vigor the adoption of the resolution for the submission of the prohibition amend- ment, his advocacy of this measure being confined not only to the convention but con- tinued upon the hustings throughout the ensuing campaign. In 1886 he was promi- ยท nently and favorably mentioned as a most


eligible candidate for the office of lieutenant governor, but would not allow his name to go before the nominating convention.


By reason of his valuable services to his party Mr. Todd was tendered several im- portant appointive offices by the national ad- ministration, which for various reasons he saw fit to decline. Among these was that of townsite commissioner of Oklahoma terri- tory, tendered by President Harrison in 1890, a position of much importance and re- sponsibility and for the duties of which his sound judgment and pre-eminent business ability peculiarly fitted him. In February of the same year he was tendered, at the hand of Governor Alvin P. Hovey, the ap- pointment as member of the board of com- missioners to construct and furnish the asylums for the insane at Logansport, Rich- mond and Evansville, which position he ac- cepted and on which he served with signal ability and conscientious fidelity until the completion of the allotted work. On the 6th of April, 1895, Governor Matthews ap- pointed him a member of the board of con- trol of the state hospital for the insane at Logansport and subsequently he was made president of the board, discharging his of- ficial functions with credit and dispatch.


In June, 1894, Mr. Todd was nominated for judge of the twenty-eighth judicial cir- cuit, comprising the counties of Blackford and Wells, and such was his great personal popularity as well as his recognized quali- fications for the bench that he was so far enable to reduce the overwhelming Demo- cratic majority as to fail of election by the small margin of fifty-six votes, receiving the largest number of votes ever cast for a Re- publican candidate in Wells county, running four hundred and forty-nine ahead of the


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party ticket. In October, 1890, he was given distinctive consideration by President Har- rison, who tendered him the appointment as commissioner of allot lands in severalty to the Indians on the Puyallup reservation in the state of Washington, but the demands upon his time by other duties led him to de- cline the offer. Mr. Todd's last public po- sition was as member of the Indian com- mission to the North West Centennial held at Toledo in 1902, to which he was appoint- ed by Gov. James H. Mount and with which he was connected at the time of his death.


In his relations to the Wells county bar and in the legal circles of the state, Mr. Todd stood high, having acquired distinctive prec- edence as an able and scholarly lawyer, and an honorable, judicious and eminently suc- cessful practitioner. He was a man of pro- nounced intellectuality, broad human sym- pathies and tolerance and imbued with fine sensibilities and clearly defined principles. Honor and integrity were synonyms with his name, and he occupied a conspicuous place in the confidence and regard of the people of the city and county in which the greater part of his life was passed and his distin- guished success achieved. The eminent dis- tinction he attained at the bar offers the best evidence of his capability in his pro- fession. Familiar with all the details of practice, to which may be added superior forensic abilities and remarkable influence over juries, he easily stood in the front rank of Wells county's jurists and as an all- round, symmetrically developed lawyer, had few equals among the eminent legal minds of the state. Much of the success which at- tended him throughout his professional career was doubtless due to the thorough preparation with which he presented his


cases in court and also to his absolute con- fidence in the justices of his client's cause. Basing his efforts upon these two con- siderations, from which there are unfortun- ately too many lapses in legal ranks, it natur- ally followed that he seldom lost a case in which his support was enlisted.


Mr. Todd first started in practice by himself, but soon afterwards became as- sociated with Hon. B. G. Shinn, now of Hartford City. This firm was subsequently changed to Todd & Martin and still later to Todd and Rhinehart, Todd & Duglay, Wil- son & Todd and finally Todd & Todd, his associate in the firm last named being his son, Nelson Kellogg Todd, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this vol- ume.


Referring to the domestic life of Mr. Todd, the record states that he was married on the 17th day of April, 1866, to Miss Rachel J. Kellogg, daughter of the late Nel- son Kellogg, of Bluffton, the union result- ing in the birth of the son whose name is mentioned above. Subsequently, August 12, 1876, he entered the marriage relation with Mrs. Mary J. Klinck, widow of Dwight Klinck, who was drowned on the illfated steamer Schiller, which went down while on a voyage to Europe on the 7th of May, 1875. Mrs. Todd is the oldest daughter of John and Rebecca (Angel) Studabaker, of Bluffton, the father a well known and highly respected citizen noted for the energy and success with which he prosecuted all of his undertakings. The mother was especially noted for her generosity and acts of kind- ness and for her faithfulness as a worker in the cause of temperance, humanity and Christianity. Mrs. Todd was educated in Bluffton and at Ft. Wayne College. She is


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an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, greatly interested in the work of the Sunday school, as teacher and official, and for a number of years has been untiring in her efforts to advance the standard of morals in the community and disseminate the truths of religion among those with whom she mingles. She is a lady of refinement and varied culture and, while domestic in her tastes, is a recognized leader in social, liter- ary and religious circles. By her first mar- riage she had four daughters, Maggie, Bes- sie, Lucy and Mattie, the two older deceas- ed; Maggie, who married David A. Wal- mar, died October 17, 1886; Bessie, who be- came the wife of James W. B. Sale, departed this life September 7, 1884: Lucy is now Mrs. Chester Thorp and Mattie is the wife of Luster E. Roush. The second- marriage of Mr. Todd was blessed with two children, Mary, born August 9, 1878, and Ralph S., whose birth took place on the 5th of August, 1880.




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