USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial History of Grant County Indiana > Part 87
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While Joseph Clouse is a German, his children have never seen his relatives across the water. They seemed blessed with longevity, and counting his brother at Lima, Ohio, and the three brothers and two sisters in the Fatherland, there are seven in the family.
There were twelve children in the Smith family of which Mrs. Clouse is a member. Her father, Jacob Smith, came from Pennsylvania to Grant county in 1837, and he had much to do with the early history of Marion. Mention is made elsewhere of the lime kiln over the "forty- foot-pitch" operated by Jacob Smith. He opened the S. R. Fankboner farm beyond the "forty-foot-pitch" on the Wabash Pike, and there is another substantial, old time brick residence at the corner of Western avenue and Second street, Marion, once a farm house but now in the center of a prosperous business community, and the name of Jacob Smith is still remembered by many of the older residents. Adam Smith, the eldest son, disappeared soon after his return from the Civil war and was never seen again. Mrs. Frances Parks, Mrs. Catherine Webb, Mrs. Mary Zent, Joseph Smith and Mrs. Clara Osborn are his children who married. John Smith died in the army, and Henry, Jacob, David and Daniel died in early life.
The home of the Clouse family has always been in Marion, and the .children born to Joseph and Anna Maria (Smith) Clouse are all married
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and in homes of their own. All of them bear family names in either the original Klaus or the Smith family.
Joe Klaus, the eldest son, is now the proprietor of the Klaus manu- facturing and repair establishment. He married Carrie Carle, a daugh- ter of John Carle, who will be remembered as a salesman in Marion stores, his last place of employment being with Goldthait & Sons. The family came from Baltimore to Marion, and besides Mrs. Klaus there were a son, Edward, and five daughters, named as follows: Mrs. Mary Williams, Mrs. Alverta Pfeiffer, Mrs. Laura Ragan, Mrs. Sallis Fleming and Mrs. Maggie Berry. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus occurred July 10, 1884, and the two children born of their union are Alverta and Philip Carle Klaus. The daughter died at the age of nineteen, and the son is associated with his father in business. He is an expert mechanic, and able to work at any task the shop may offer, either on wagons, carriages or automobiles, and there is usually some repair work in the shop that requires careful attention. Mrs. Carrie Klaus died on the 7th of May, 1893. Mr. Klaus was again married, November 29, 1898, to Miss Beatrice M. Morgan, who was born in a suburb of London, Eng- land, although prior to her marriage she had lived in or near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. She has several times crossed the Atlantic, and on a journey to England in 1912 she continued on to Germany, where she visited her uncles, Peter, Adam and John, and aunts, Catherine and Clara, who welcomed her gladly as the daughter of a brother whom they had not seen since he left home to seek his fortune in a new world. She found them cordial and hearty German folk, all of whom sent special invitations to their brothers in America to visit the old home again. All of them live in a small village, owning adjoining farm lands.
Mr. Klaus has a brother, John Clouse, who is a mechanic in the shop, and who married Miss Maude Beatty. He has four children: John Merrit, James Robert, Cassandra and Helen Louise. His sister, Mary, became the wife of C. C. Kinley, and she had two children, Forest Clouse Kinley and Mary Gertrude Kinley. Mrs. Kinley died at Summittville. Another sister, Adeline, is the wife of W. F. Gerrard. Catherine mar- ried J. A. Brown and Anna Gertrude is the wife of J. C. Woomer. She has one child, Anna Maria, named for her paternal grandmother.
Joseph Clouse served his adopted country in the Civil war, and he tells the story himself in the chapter entitled "Grant County in the Wars." His name occurs again in the chapter on Civil Government, and in the county there are none to be found who will question his honesty in politics. Although well past the need for business activity, he is not one to sit idly by, and he always .finds something to do in the way of looking after property interests, so that though a retired man he is a busy one. The family is an excellent example of the immi- grant becoming the citizen, and the Clouse-Klaus family history is now a part of the annals of Grant county. The political ties of Mr. Clouse, Sr., have always been Republican, one of the most staunch, dyed-in-the- wool kind. Mr. Klaus, Jr., naturally followed the father in his political life, until the Progressive party made its appearance, to which he then connected himself. The city campaign in the fall of 1913 found him quite active, serving as treasurer of the organization, and by the per- sistent work of the party they elected their candidate for Mayor, Mr. J. O. Batchelor.
HON. BERNARD B. SHIVELY. Of the prominent members of the state senate of Indiana, none has won the admiration and respect of · the people of the state more than Senator Bernard B. Shively, of Marion, Indiana. A lawyer of a wide reputation, Senator Shively was
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Bernard@ Shively
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well known before he entered the senate and his activity in furthering, not only the interests of the people of his district, but also of the people of the entire state has made him a figure of prominence, and the ab- horred of the grafters and boodlers, whom he has steadily fought since his entry into the legislative body. Senator Shively is a business man as well as a politician and lawyer and he sees that this country's great need goes deeper than laws, that the health and moral well being of the people is of the first consideration. In short Senator Shively is of that modern type of man with a trained mind who is able to apply the economic principles that he has learned in a practical way, and in whom lies the hope of the country today.
Bernard B. Shively was born in the city of Marion on the 5th day of November, 1881, and is the son of Dr. Marshall T. Shively and Zamora (Bobbs) Shively, both of whom are natives of Marion, and who are mentioned at greater length elsewhere in this volume. Bernard Shively came of a race who had always been men of education and learn- ing and consequently he was early sent to school. After completing the work of the grammar and high schools in Marion he attended the Marion Normal School and then entered Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia, remaining there for three years.
After leaving college he, in company with his brother, became the publisher of the Inter-State magazine, being thus engaged for two years. He next became interested in the manufacturing business, but after a year and a half of this work he determined to study law and so sold the. business. He entered the law office of Judge Hiram Brownlee, of Marion, and here he studied for a year. He next read law with Senator John T. Strange, of Marion, and was admitted to the bar and began to practice in the early part of 1910. Although he remained in the office of Senator Strange yet he practiced alone. He enjoyed a very fair practice from the beginning and it grew rapidly. He values highly his experience in the business world and the broadness of his education and experience for he believes in getting down to fundamentals and ignoring the minute technicalities of the law in so far as it is possible to do so. He is broad-minded and practical, and a man whom business men liked to retain because he could meet them on their own grounds and understood the commercial side of a problem as well as the legal.
Senator Shively has always taken an active part in politics and as a member of the Democratic party has been a prominent factor in state politics in Indiana. He was nominated in June, 1910, for joint senator for Grant, Wells and Blackford counties. The convention met in Hart- ford City and Senator Shively was nominated over a number of promi- nent men who were his opponents. He was elected in the fall election of 1910, by a plurality of four hundred and ninety-nine, in a district that is normally Republican, a strong proof of his qualities as a man rather than as a party-man.
In January, 1911, Senator Shively took his seat in the Sixty-seventh General Assembly of Indiana for a four years' term. During this session he introduced the first recall bill that had ever been introduced in an Indiana legislature. This bill, and the referendum bill which he helped to draft, were defeated, the conservative element being too strong for this progressive move. Senator Shively assisted in obtaining the pas- sage of the child labor bill, one of the most necessary bills to the welfare of the state that was introduced during this session. His most note- worthy work, however, was the block signal bill, which is now a law. This bill was fathered by the Senator at the request of the Railroad Commission and he fought long and hard to secure its passage. This statute requires block signals for all steam and electric railroads. It
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has necessitated the investment of more than a million dollars in signals by the railroads and was bitterly opposed by the combined forces of the steam and electric lines. For once, however, money could not prevail against right and Senator Shively triumphed. Needless to say the law has saved many lives and prevented numbers of accidents.
In the campaign of 1912 Senator Shively stumped the state of Indiana under the auspices of the state committee and for the first time in twenty-five years Grant county entered the Democratic column.
During the session of 1913, Senator Shively was again active in his fight for better social conditions. He was the author and champion of the Shively Public Utilities Act, which is now a law and which is generally conceded to be one of the most far reaching and progressive pieces of legislation that has been enacted in Indiana in twenty-five years. This law provides a state commission having authority over all public utilities, including railroads, telephone and telegraph companies, heat, light and power and water companies. This commission has power to investigate bond issues and similar supervisory powers to the end that the public may be given adequate service at a fair rate. It is a great step forward in the advancement of the state and is only one of the many moves of this kind that should be made and that will be if Senator Shively and men of his type could successfully oppose the money interests.
It was in this session that the fraternal insurance bill came up and . Senator Shively led the fight against it, for, in his opinion, this bill appeared to be a rate raising measure, backed by the old line com- panies. He also assisted in the fight for a nine-hour law, but this was a defeated measure. Coming from a family of three generations of physicians, he opposed the bill known as the Chiropractic bill, which would have abrogated the present requisites for practicing medicine in the state. He assisted in many other important legislations and was one of the most influential and prominent men in the senate, greatly admired even by his enemies for his clear mind and forceful speech, and for the independence with which he fought for his principles, regardless of the harm which it might be to him personally. He was chairman of the agricultural committee, and enjoyed the work of this committee very much, especially in their successful endeavor to pass the Serum bill, a measure which has been very beneficial to farmers. He was also a member of the judiciary committee, of the railroad committee, of the manufacturing committee, of that on cities and towns, and of a number of others.
In addition to his official and professional duties, Senator Shively is interested in business. He is general manager of the Railway Safety Device Company, manufacturers of an automatic safety device for steam and electric companies. He is unmarried and a man who has the best part of his life before him, for he is yet young and has only begun to show people what is in him. He has a brilliant future before him and it is a future founded on the solid basis of right principles and the best good of the people. Senator Shively is a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of the college fraternity of Mu Pi Lambda, which merged with the Kappa Sigma, having been made a member at Washington and Lee. He is a member and stockholder of the Indiana Democratic Club of Indianapolis and belongs to the Country Club in Marion.
JEREMIAH W. TORRANCE. The name of Jeremiah has been handed down from one generation to another through the Stebbins family in the
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ancestry of the well known "Jerry" Torrance of the Davis Drug Store, his mother, Mrs. Alice Stebbins Torrance Kleder, being a daughter of the late Jeremiah Blackford Stebbins, an early day Marion merchant and a son of Jeremiah B. Stebbins, Sr., who lived on the Marion National Bank corner for many years in the days when Marion was yet a village.
Mr. Torrance is a son of Frank Wilson Torrance, who was a telegraph operator and belonged to a Wabash county family. His mother, later became the wife of George M. Kleder, who lived at Milford, in Kosciusko county, and one son, George M. Kleder, Jr., was born to them. Jere- miah W. Torrance was born in Marion, on April 19, 1882, and it should be said that he is descended through his mother from two of the earliest pioneer families in Grant county,-those of Stebbins and Griffin. The children of Jeremiah B. and Catherine (Shearer) Stebbins were as fol- lows: Phoebe and Rosanna, twins; Phoebe died in childhood and the other became Mrs. Horton; Mrs. Mary S. Webb; Mrs. Catherine S. Thomason-Navens; Elijah Stebbins; Jeremiah B. Stebbins, Jr .; George W. Stebbins and Mrs. Frances S. Ward.
On the Griffin side Mr. Torrance is descended from Robert, who was one of a family of three, the others being Martin Griffin and Mrs. Jane Overman. Robert Griffin raised a family of ten children, all of whom married and had families. The children of Robert and Eleanor (Mines) Griffin were: Mrs. Malinda G. Stebbins-Davis; James Griffin, Sr .; Mrs. Jane G. Jackson ; Mrs. Susannah G. Stebbins; John Griffin ; Sarah E. G. Stebbins; Ruth G. Wigger Gall; Lucinda G. Wolf; Lydia M. G. Parks and Viola G. Phillips. The Stebbins and Griffin families were close friends and the three sons in the Stebbins family all found wives among the daughters in the Griffin family,-the wives surviving their husbands in each instance.
Through his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, the latter being Mrs. Eleanor Hines Griffin, whose mother was Rachel Branson, Mr. Torrance is descended from the Branson family, of Boots and Bran- son fame in the early history of the community. The Branson monu- ment on Cemetery Boulevard is at the grave of an ancestor.
When the Stebbins-Griffin houses were growing up in this part of the state, times were decidedly different from now, as the surviving members will not be slow to tell you, should you inquire of them regarding the past. They were of the Newlite and Methodist religion, for the most part, and the Democracy manifested by these pioneer families was of the deepest dye. Theirs was a full and worthy part in the development of Grant county. The Griffins first settled near Lake Galatia, but they found the land too low and wet for them and they accordingly crossed the Mississinewa river, where they took up a three hundred acre farm that is still owned by the heirs of Robert Griffin. It is a landmark of the county, the old fashioned frame dwelling being easily seen from the windows of the trains of the Pennsylvania Lines, which runs through a forty acre gravel pit that was at one time the property of the Griffins and a part of their farm, but which they later sold to the railroad com- pany. This place is just opposite the National Military Home of Indiana, and is an attractive and valuable piece of agricultural property.
When J. B. Stebbins, Sr., was a Marion tailor, he, like many another of the business men of the community, enjoyed the confidence and friend- ship of the Miami Indians, and for many years he made all the garments worn by Chief Meshingomesia. Several members of the Griffin family still live in this community. Mrs. Frances Stebbins Ward is the last of her generation in the family. Of the Griffin family, Mrs. Malinda G. S. Davis, the eldest of the family, was born on April 12, 1835, and she has always lived hereabouts. She was an active business woman for
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many years, and after the death of her first husband, J. B. Stebbins, Jr., she married John Davis, the pioneer Marion druggist. The name of John Davis is perpetuated in the business he established in Marion as early as 1866,-the Davis Drug Store, of which Jeremiah W. Torrance of this review is a member. Mr. Davis had a drug store there and next to him was the millinery shop long operated by Mrs. Davis, and it is not too much to say that they enjoyed the unlimited confidence of the public in both enterprises, having a splendid patronage. In 1903 Mr. Davis died after a long and useful career in the community, and soon after Mr. George M. Kleder came to Marion and associated himself in business with J. W. Torrance, and they have since continued. Mr. Torrance, it should be stated, is the grandson of Mrs. Malinda Davis, and she is the owner of the building in which the Davis Drug Store is conducted, the property having long been in the family. The drug store, under the direction of Mr. Kleder and Mr. Torrance, carries out the policies inau- gurated and long put into practice by the founder of the business, John Davis, and the concern continues to enjoy the same liberal patronage that was accorded to it in the days when its original owner was at its head.
Mr. Torrance is one of the active and progressive men of the city, and he enjoys a pleasing prominence and popularity in the community that has always known him. He married, on June 6, 1905, Miss Lucile Bryson, a daughter of Jefferson and Frances Samantha (Rice) Bryson, and one daughter has been born to them,-Pauline Torrance.
DAVID SNEAD JAMES. The year 1914 is the century milestone for the immediate ancestry of David S. James in Indiana. The North Carolina family of that name moved to Randolph county, Indiana, in 1814, soon after the smoke of the battle of the Mississinewa had cleared away, opening up the great northwest territory for occupation by the whites. The James family lived in Randolph county until the year "the stars fell," and in 1833 emigrated to Grant county. However, the James family "hoosier schoolmaster" was in Grant county two years before local civil government was established. Mr. David S. James has been the continuous president of the James family organization since its first meeting in 1904. Mr. C. S. James is genealogist and historian of the family, and the family tree is perhaps the most perfect of any in Grant county. The fifth generation of the James children may readily trace their ancestry to the family that gave to Grant county its first school- master, William James. Concerning William James some interesting comment will be found in the first volume of this history. The perma- nent settlement of the family in 1833 was made near Deer Creek, on land that had been entered by a son of John and Mary (Snead) James. Among the children of John and Mary James was Henley James, who in turn was the father of David S. James.
When Henley and Sarah (Holman) James were married on November 26, 1840, they started housekeeping on Lugar Creek, three miles east of the Grant county courthouse, where the family lived for many years, and that place will always be known as the James family homestead. Henley James was a progressive, unusually active farmer and citizen, and there is mention of him in the chapter on Civil Government in this work. During war times he represented Grant county in the Indiana legislature, being elected in 1833, and again in 1865. He was one of the thirty-nine members of the legislature who remained loyal to Indi- ana's war governor, Oliver P. Morton, and who adjourned the session in Indianapolis, where southern influence was being exerted, and con- tinued the session in Madison. Henley James was a man who had the
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courage of his convictions relative to the conduct of the war. While others of the original family lived temporarily in Grant county and while the family furnished Grant county's first schoolmaster, it was Henley James who became identified with the community and reared a family here. Henley James died January 8, 1886, and his wife passed away October 3, 1896. Of that generation, and surviving both Henley and wife, was Miss Rachel James, who died in this county in 1905. Miss James was an original member of the Octogenarian Club, and although always an invalid, few people were ever endowed with stronger intellect and she remained young in thought and always abreast of the times, commending and condemning twentieth century customs. At her death the James family missed something-it was like the family clock had stopped, as "Aunt Rachel" had always been reckoned with in everything. She had been baptized in the Mississinewa River at Washington Street in 1840, before the stream was spanned with a bridge. When the gas and oil development came to her community, she decried the Continental Sabbath, saying she believed the first day of the week was when man should rest from his labors. Miss James was the last of her family, and in her the "schoolmaster" still lived-her influence was for the right in all things.
The entire James family was endowed with strong characteristics, and though its members have possessed positive natures, they have all · been inclined to reading and enlightment, and the present generation are students of all the problems of the day.
Henley James died at sixty-eight, and his wife at seventy-two. Both have led active lives, and they left a family that is still known in the community. Their first child, William, died in infancy. The second, David Snead James, says that a man born September 24, 1843, has crossed the dead line-threescore and ten years, the allotted span of most Grant county citizens,-but he still retains an abiding interest in things and expects to be a vital part of life in this county for some years to come. The children who followed him in birth are as follows: Emily J., who married Joel Davis; Mrs. Mary J. Snodgrass, wife of Doctor D. B. Snodgrass; Solomon H. James, who married Louisa Byrd; George James, who married Belle Carll; Mrs. Lydia J. Byrd, wife of J. L. Byrd; Mrs. Laura J. Winchell, wife of George B. Winchell; and Mrs. Alice J. Cowgill-Walsh, whose first husband was O. C. Cowgill and her second Max Walsh. On June 7, 1866, at the Hays family homestead in Van Buren township, David S. James married Weimer Hays, daughter of William and Sarah (Nickum) Hays. Most of their married life has been spent in that neighborhood in which they were married, and Mr. James has passed every one of his birthdays in Grant county. The Hays family likewise were among the early settlers of this county. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. James have been born children as follows: Charles S. James, who married first Docia S. Davis, and second Laura Stephenson, and the one child, of the second marriage, is Miss Ruth James; Miss Mary S. James died in young womanhood; Harvey H. James, who married Mary Pearson, has two children, by that marriage, Ethel and Earl James, and by his marriage to Lena Sloderbeck, has another daughter, Miss Mary James; George N. James; Mrs. Roselle J. Troyer, wife of Charles Troyer, and their children are Paul and Jennie Troyer; John A. James, who married Nellie Leaverton, and their two children are Clyde and Russell James; Joseph H. James has been twice married, first to Caroline Brown, and second to Mamie Clouser.
Members of the James family were among the early adherents of the Disciples (Christian church), and D. S. James holds a membership with the Central Christian Church in Marion. While the early James
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family were Democrats, the Lincoln brand of Republicanism actuates the later members. Recently Mr. James lined up with the Progressive cause, and declared he has his ear to the ground, ready for the advance movement which he regards as best for himself and the country. In concluding this brief family sketch we shall refer briefly to a local land- mark, whose history should not be forgotten and which has a number of associations with the James family. Many years ago was held a Sunday School picnic in the woods on the Hays farm, part of which is now the D. S. James place. The meeting place was in Van Buren town- ship at the corner of four townships, Van Buren, Monroe, Center, and Washington-and as it was a union Sunday school picnic, the place was thereafter called Union Grove. The next point in the story was the establishment of a star route postoffice, which received the name of Union Grove. However, the postoffice was shifted from one farmhouse to another, and carrying the title Union Grove to each separate place, until the last locality to bear that name was at a considerable distance from the one in which the above mentioned picnic was held. There is a fine oak grove about the James homestead, and were it not for the fact that the name Union Grove has thus become common speculating property, it might well designate this particular farm.
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