USA > Indiana > Shelby County > Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana, Vol. 2 > Part 31
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Mr. Harrod was born September 19. 1836. and, as already indicated. came to Indiana when young, and on reaching the years of manhood, engaged in farming in the county of Shelby. to which honorable vocation he devoted a large number of years with success and profit. He was a man of intelligence and well-balanced judgment, stood for the strict enforcement of the law, and for a number of years was a strong advocate of the temperance cause and an enthusiastic and untiring worker in arousing public sentiment against the liquor traffic in all its forms. With his wife he held membership with the Methodist Episcopal church, and as an earnest and devout Christian, demon- strated his faith by his daily life and impressed all with whom he came into contact with the sincerity of his religious profession. He was an active worker in the church, and for a number of years prior to his death was a class leader and a teacher in the Sunday school. Mr. Harrod lived an upright. honorable life, fraught with much good to his fellow men and in his death, which occurred on the 12th day of April. 1905. his family lost a loving and tender husband. a kind and affectionate father, and the county an enter- prising and high-minded citizen.
Mr. and Mrs. Harrod were blessed with seven children, the oldest of whom is Isaac E., who was born November 29. 1866, and who at this time is manager of the Flat Rock Telephone Company, and a heavy stockholder in the same. He was educated in the district schools and at Hartsville, and is a gen- tleman of intelligence and influence. John R., born .August 12, 1869. is a married man and one of the leading agriculturists of Washington township: Stella F .. whose birth occurred .April 23. 1872. died when eighteen months of age: William M., whose sketch appears elsewhere in these pages, was born November 29, 1874, and is engaged in farming and stock raising in the town-
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ship of Washington : Rutherford B., born September it, 1877. is also a tiller of the soil and is a resident of Bartholomew county : Sophia M., born August 5, 1880, and for some years a teacher in the schools of Shelbyville, is now the wife of B. D. Wright, of Flat Rock ; Charles was born March 27, 1883, and is still at home attending to the farm and looking after his mother's interests : Minnie E .. the youngest of the family and also a member of the home circle. was born February 3. 1886, and received her education in the schools of Flat Rock, being a graduate of the high school at that place and a young lady of fine mind.
Since her husband's death Mrs. Harrod has lived on the family homestead and looked after the cultivation of the same. She is a lady of high social standing.
PROF. MELVIN JACKSON.
Thoroughly equipped for the pursuit of the profession in which he is en- gaged, and never neglecting the most insignificant of the manifold duties that he is called upon to perform. Prof. Melvin Jackson well deserves the high ruik that he has taken among the educators of Shelby county. Active and vigerous and possessing a mind that has the faculty of grasping quickly the details of any proposition that may be laid before him he has had marked success since the first day that he embarked upon his chosen calling.
Professor Jackson is a native of Shelby county. He was born Angust 17. 1876. his parents being Elijah and Jane ( MeClintic ) Jackson. The pirents of the former, Elijah and Anna Jackson, were born in the state of Ohio, and came into Indiana in early times, taking up their residence on six hundred acres of land in Bartholomew county, where they lived until removed by death. Both of them are buried near Burnsville, in that county. They prospered in a worldly way, and were very religions. The son, Elijah Jackson, was reared in Bartholomew county, and, after taking a course in the common schools. attended Hartsville College, from which he graduated with honor. He moved to Shelby county, where he was married many years ago. In politics he was a staunch Republican, and participated actively in all of the campaigns, either local or national. He exercised a very potent influence among his neighbors on election day. He held but one office, however, serving for nine terms as Assessor of Washington township. In the later years of his life he became an active member of the Methodist church, and for a long time was a Sunday school teacher. He was considered one of the most valued members of the congregation because of his willingness at all times to aid in the building up of the church. His death. in 1898, was very generally mourned. His wife survives him. still residing in Washington township. They were the parents
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of four children, including the subject. as follows: Bertha, wife of Willis Pat- terson: Herschel married Sina Spurlin. lives at Shelbyville: Maud, wife of John Conover.
After attending the district schools Professor Jacky n entered the Hope Normal School, remaining there one year. He taught his first term in 1897. having previously spent twelve months in the Marion Normal School, where he took a scientific course. He has, during his career as an educator, taught twelve terms of school, and for the past four years served in the capacity of principal of the high school at Lewis Creek. He was married June 25. 1896. to Pearl Willis, of Jackson township, Shelby county. She was born in Jessa- mine county, Kentucky. December 8. 1878, being the child of Greenberry Wil- lis, and the second of seven children, all now living. 'Mrs. Jackson received a fair education in the common schools. She is the mother of one child, Roy, who was born September 10. 1897. Professor Jackson is a Prohibitionist. having cast his lot with that party when he became of age, and he has never voted any other ticket since.
REV. HIRAM T. HAWKINS.
This able and popular minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church, and for a number of years a well known resident of Washington township, is a na- tive of Shelby county, Indiana, and dates his birth from the 28th day of September, 1861. His father, also a minister of the same persuasion ( Epis- copalian Methodist ). was Rev. T. C. Hawkins, and his mother before hor mar- riage was Ann Eliza Barnhill, both natives of Indiana, the former born in 1839. the latter a few years subsequent to that date.
T. C. Hawkins was educated in the common schools and shortly after his conversion, which occurred when he was a young man. he began preaching. at first in his native county and later on entering the regular work of the min- istry, had charge of congregations at various places in Indiana and elsewhere. He was a man of fine pulpit ability and. during his active ministry. held sev- eral important charges including the churches at Effingham and Kinmundy, Illinois, and later was made presiding elder of the Gosport district, in In- diana. In his relations as pastor and elder, his labors were eminently success- ful and. by reason of his power as a preacher and eminence as a Bible student. he became widely known in ecclesiastical circles and won a warm place in the confidence and love of his own church, and the esteem of sister denominations. In connection with the ministerial work. he devoted considerable attention to agricultural pursuits and was also engaged for some time in the manufacture of lumber, carrying on both of these lines while a resident of Illinois, where
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he cwned a good farm and accumulated a comfortable competence. He was thrice married. his first wife, referred to in a preceding paragraph, bearing Fim two children, Hiram T., the subject of this sketch, and a daughter by the name of Alice, who died at the age of six months. Reverend Hawkins ac- complished much good in the holy office which he so worthily filled He de parted this life in the prime of his physical and mental powers, January 5. 1875, being in his thirty-seventh year at the time, with bright prospects for future usefulness.
Rev. Hiram T. Hawkins spent his early life in his native county and li- linois, and grew to manhood with a well defined purpose to make the most of his opportunities and achieve success in some honorable vocation. Brought up in a home where morality and religion obtained. his childhood and youth were comparatively free from those influences which pollute the body and degrade the mind, but it was not until his thirty-first year that he experienced conversion and decided to devote his life to the ministry. He received his educational training at Kinmundy, Illinois, and Hartsville, Indiana, and short- ly after uniting with the church began active preparations for the ministry. the labors of which he entered upon in due time and soon made his influenc. felt as an unusually forceful and eloquent preacher of the Word.
Reverend Hawkins was duly ordained an eller of the Wesleyan Methodist church by the Indiana conference, and, during the six years following, devoted his attention to the duties of his sacred office, ministering to various churches. and meeting with gratifying success in his labors. As already indicated. his power in the pulpit scon brought him prominently before the public, and where- ever he preached he attracted large and appreciative audiences. By reason of failing health he was obliged to discontinue ministerial work at the expira- tion of the period referred to, since which time he has been engaged, principal- ly, in tilling the soil, owning a fine farm of one hundred ten aeres in Washing- ton township, known as "River View."
Reverend Hawkins still preaches at intervals, his services being in great demand upon special occasions and he is frequently called on to conduct fu- nerals, deliver memorial and other addresses, and solemnize the rites of mar- riage. He takes a lively interest in public affairs and votes with the Prohibi- tion party.
Maud Wheatley became the wife of Reverend Hawkins August 6, 1884: she is a native of Bartholomew county. Indiana, where her birth occurred in the year 1865, March 17th. Two children have been born to this union. viz : Harriet and Grace, who were born in the years 1885 and 1887. respectively. After finishing the common schools Harriet and Grace entered the high school at Albion, in Noble county, where they remained for two years, after which they entered the high school at Boxley, from which they were graduated in due time. Harriet then entered college at Marion. Indiana. She taught one
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term of school at Baker's. Corner. in Hamilton county. Indiana. Later she became the wife of Otto Rigsbee, to whom was born one childl. Lavelda, who first saw the light of day March 9. 1908. Grace, who was also a graduate of the Boxley high school. married Lee Ottis Vickery, and lives in Hamilton county, where he is a minister in the Wesleyan Methodist church, at Baker's Corner.
DR. CHARLES H. PERRY.
Few men follow the medical profession with the degree of enthusiasm and ardor that is displayed by Dr. Charles H. Perry. He determined to make this calling his life's work when still a boy in his teens, and his success has been even far beyond the most sanguine expectations of those who have watched his career from its very beginning. Doctor Perry is the son of C. R. and Caroline (Fleece) Perry, and was born March 10. 1875. He was the third child of a family of six, all of whom have prospered in different walks of life. He has a practical knowledge of farming for he worked hard when a boy upon his father's place. After attending the common schools, he entered the academy at Campbellsville, and later became a student in the Georgetown College, of Kentucky. He spent three years in that institution. studying hard, for he was very ambitious. Later. he taught three terms in one of the district schools. of Kentucky. He never abandoned the idea of be- coming a physician. however, and eventually he entered the College of Medi- cine, at Louisville, Kentucky. His studies in this college began in 1894. and he left the institution three years later with a distinguished diploma. He lo- cated at Lewis Creek, and began the practice of medicine. The difficulty which the average young physician experiences in building up a practice is too well known to need mention. but Doctor Perry was more than ordinarily successful at the very ontset. In 1904 he took a post-graduate course at the Polyclinic School, of New York City, at the conclusion of which he returned to Lewis Creek, and resumed his practice, increasing it to a noticeable extent within the year following.
Doctor Perry has been married twice, his first wife being Emma K. White, of Flat Rock. Shelby county. To this union one child was born, Gar- nett R., his birth occurring January 30. 1901. Mrs. Perry died August 13. 1906. His second wife was Laura M. Trimble, daughter of Nathan Trimble. She was born in Shelby county. April 14. 1885, and received an education in the common schools.
Doctor Perry is a member of Farmers' Lodge. No. 147. Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Kenton Lodge. No. 207. Knights of Pythias. Flat Rock, and Lewis Creek Lodge, No. 808. Independent Order of Odd Fellows. being past
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noble grand and a charter member thereof. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. No. 4580. He is at the present time medical examiner for this order, and serves in the same capacity for a large number of life in- surance companies. He is a firm believer in secret orders, and takes a very active part in lodge work. He is a member of the Shelby County Medical So- ciety, and American and State Medical societies, and is always to be found in attendance upon the meetings of these organizations. He is a Democrat, but seems content to be a private in the ranks, never having sought office of any kind. He has some farm interests and gives them what attention he can spare from his profession, which, as a matter of fact, is very little, as he is one of the busiest physicians in the county. He has had remarkable success as a healer of the ills to which humanity is akin.
MRS. ELLA EASON.
Before her marriage the subject of this sketch was Ella Dodds, daughter of Perry P. and Caroline Dodds, the father a native of Ohio, the mother of Indiana. Her grandfather. John M. Dedds, a Pennsylvanian by birth, mar- ried when a young man, Hannah Yazel. of Virginia, who, many years ago. moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, later transferring his residence to Hen- dricks township. Shelby county, in which he and his wife spent the remainder of their days. Perry Dodds, whose birth cecurred near Dayton, Ohio, ac- companied his parents to Shelby county and grew to maturity in Hendricks township, where in due time he married Caroline Kimball, who bore him two children, Ella, of this review, and Cora, now Mrs. Jackson Snyder, of Noble township. this county. After the death of the mother of these children, Mr. Dodds entered the marriage relation a second time and continued to live in the township of Noble, and followed the vocation of agriculture, until his re- moval to Shelbyville, where he engaged in the hardware business, and where he was called to his final reward on February 19. 1879.
Ella Dodds was born in Hendricks township. February 19, 1863, grew up under excellent home influence and. while still a mere miss, became familiar with the labors of the household and the other domestic duties which have such a decided influence in forming correct habits and directing the life of young womanhood into proper channels. Her first educational experience was acquired in the district schools near her home, but after her father re- moved to Shelbyville, she entered the schools of that city and continued to at- tend the same until her intellectual training was finished. After the death of her father she went to live with an aunt by the name of Hannah Dodds. in whose home she was the recipient of much kindness and under whose watch
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and care she grew to young womanhood, with proper conceptions of life and its duties and responsibilities.
Miss Dodds remained under the roof of her relative until her marriage. which was solemnized August 28. 1884. with James A. Eason, whose birth occurred February 10. 1845. in Spencer. Indiana, but who for some time prior to choosing a wife and helpmeet had lived in the county of Shelby. Mr. Eason was an intelligent and enterprising business man, who took an active part in promoting the material progress of the community in which he resided. He followed merchandising for a number of years, met with gratifying success in the business, and at his death, which took place on January 22. 1903. he left a valuable property to his widow and children. The older of the children of James A. and Ella Eason is Clinton, who was born August 30. 18S6 : he mir- ried Emma Endicott. and lives in Norristown, where he has a general store and commands a lucrative patronage. Ersa, the other child of Mr. and Mrs. Eason, was born on the 19th of May. 1896, and is her mother's assistant in the management of the home, and her companion when not engaged in the duties of the household.
Mrs. Eason is an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, of Norristown, and interested in the various charitable and humanitarian enter- prises of the community. Her husband, having been identified with the Masonic Fraternity and the Improved Order of Red Men, she united with the Poca- hontas Lodge and the Eastern Star, at Hope, Indiana, and since her initiation has been one of the societies' most valued members. The career of Mrs. Eason has been a very active one since the death of her husband: she has managert her various interests with signal ability and success. She owns val- uable property in Norristown. a fine farm of one hundred and forty-two acres in section 32. Washington township, which she rents, and is also much interested in live stock. her specialty. however, being poultry of the finer breeds. in the raising of which she has achieved an honorable reputation among the leading fanciers of Shelby county.
GEORGE W. NEWTON.
This veteran of the Civil war, and one of the representative men of Wash - ington township, was born March 18, 1842, in Butler county, Ohio, being a son of John and Malinda ( Clark ) Newton, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. The Newtons came originally from EngFind, and the sub- ject's father was born in Philadelphia shortly after the family landed in this country, and he spent his early life in that city. Later he moved to Hamilton. Ohio, where he engagedl in merchandising, and from that place. about the
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year 1852, transferred his business to Norristown. Shelby county. Indiana. where he built up a large and lucrative trade. Being very liberal and always ready to assist his friends, he could not resist granting favors, with the usual result of losing heavily by injudiciously endorsing for unreliable parties. This good man, who measured up to a very high standard of citizenship. departed this life in 18;6. By his first wife, Malinda Clark, he had four children, viz : David, deceased : John C. of Indianapolis: William II .. of Tipton county, this state, who died in 1900; Eliza, deceased, was the wife of William W. Diwort. and George W., whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Mr. New- ton's second marriage resulted in the birth of two children, the older of whom, Themas E .. became an influential Republican politician, and at one time served as Sheriff of Shelby county: Raldo, the second in order of birth, was also well known and stood high in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
George W. Newton was about ten years old when his parents left Ohio, and since the year 1852 he has been an honored resident of Shelby county. He received a practical education in the public schools, grew to maturity in Norristown, and, at the breaking out of the great rebellion, tendered his ser- vices to the government, enlisting May 14. 1861. in Company A. Sixteenth Regiment Indiana Infantry, which regiment his brother, Jolm .A .. also joined, the latter subsequently becoming a captain in the Seventieth Indiana Volunteers. William Newton, another brother, was a private in Company D. of the Seventh Indiana, and rendered efficient service for the national Union during the period of enlistment. George W. shared with his comrades the vicissitudes and fortunes of war during the carly operations of the army of the Potomac, his regiment forming a part of Banks' division and partici- pating in several engagements, including the battles of Ball's Bluff, Winches- ter, and other actions which made that period historic. Upon the re-organi- zation of the Sixteenth, he joined the One Hundred Seventieth Indiana, with which he served until the expiration of his term, seventeen months later.
On quitting the army, Mr. Newton returned to Shelby county and took up the carpenter's trade, later becoming a contractor upon quite an extensive scale. He erected a number of dwellings, public buildings and other edifices. in Norristown and throughout the county, and achieved a wide reputation as a builder. In 1864 he located in Norristown, and since that time has been one of the leading men of the thriving little city, contributing much to its growth and progress, and taking an influential part in public affairs. His wife, formerly Martha J. Robinson, daughter of Hon. John W. Robinson. was born in Washington township, and is the mother of three children : Effie. who married Ira McCartney, of Bloomington, Indiana. Thomas W., de- ceased, and Ed. C. Newton, bookkeeper in the First National Bank, of Shelby- ville.
Mr. Newton is a Republican in politics, a member of the Grand Army of
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the Republic Post, at Flat Rock, and belongs to Lodge No. 147, Free and Accepted Masons, at Norristown. In religion he is a Methodist, with which denomination the entire family are identified. Mrs. Newton is one of the active and influential workers in the church at Norristown, and at the pres- ent time a member of the board of trustees. She is also a leader of the Ladies' Aid Society, under the auspices of the church, and an able and zealous teacher in the Sunday school, besides holding an important official position in the latter organization, and making her influence felt in the religious circles of the town and elsewhere.
Mr. Newton has been successful financially. and is comfortably situated. owning. in addition to his commodious home and other property in Norris- town. a fine farm of seventy-one acres in Washington township, besides his investment in various enterprises and private capital. He has been a leading member of the Flat Rock Building and Loan Association, and at this time is president of the organization. the success of which is very largely due to his efforts and judicious management.
Hon. John Robinson, father of Mrs. Newton, was for many years a dis- tinguished lawyer, of Indiana, and a man of a very high order of intellect. He served six years as Judge of the Howard and Tipton Circuit Courts, rose to an honorable position among the eminent jurists of his day, and his death, which occurred in 1894. removed from the bar of the state one of its leading and useful members. Judge Robinson reared a family of four children, whose names are as follows: Mrs. Martha J. Newton : Lewis, who served with dis- tinction in the Civil war and gave his life for his country : John M., ex-post- master of Tipton, also a veteran of the Civil war: and Cora, who died in youth.
JAMES W. MEANS.
As a member of the younger generation of farmers of Shelby county. In- diana, James W. Means, of section 29. Moral township, is one among those most widely known as a progressive agriculturist and landowner. He was born near Brookfield. Moral township, on November 9, 1853, and a son of Thomas P. and Elizabeth (Dake) Means, whose sketches appear in this vol- ume.
James W. Means was reared on a farm and always had a natural inelina- tion to farm life. He was educated in the district schools of the county and lived with his parents until he was married in 1883 to Miss Ida Jane Martin. a daughter of Henry and Sarah ( Murphy) Martin. Mrs. Means died October 15. 1891, leaving one child. Clara Belle. The deceased was a member of the Brookfield Baptist church and a woman of kind and gentle qualities.
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JAMES W. MEANS AND FAMILY.
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The second marriage of James W. Means was consummated with Miss Eliza Jane McGuire on October 20, 1892. She was a native of Brookfield. Indiana, and a daughter of Steward and Anna ( Murphy ) McGuire, who are now living in Brown county, Indiana. A sketch of James McGuire, a brother. appears in this volume. To this union was born one child. Madge Adeline, whose date of birth was November 7. 1897. Mrs. Anna McGuire is a native of Shelby county. Steward McGuire is a native of Tyrone, Ireland. He came to America at the close of the Civil war, and was one of the pioneers in this section of Shelby county, where he worked for some time on a farm and be- came known as a man of enterprise and honorable character.
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