USA > Indiana > Shelby County > Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana, Vol. 2 > Part 35
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his native state, and after acquiring efficiency as a mechanic and working for a limited period in Champaign county, went west, but at the end of one year returned, and going to Kokomo. Indiana, entered the employ of Armstrong. Landon & Company, with whom he finished his trade. Leaving the latter city, young Frazier went to Pittsburg. Pennsylvania, where he secured re- munerative employment, but subsequently went from that place to Erie, in the same state, where he was engaged in his chosen calling until returning to Indiana and taking service with Peter Purcell, of Indianapolis, in whose em- ploy he continued for a period of two years.
Mr. Frazier not only became a skilled artisan, but acquired a thorough knowledge of the tin and hardware business, and for five years represented a large stove house of Indianapolis, spending the greater part of that time in Illinois as a traveling salesman. Resigning his position in 1894. he came to Morristown and bought the tin shop which he has since operated, the stock at the time of purchase representing a capital of only one hundred and fifty dollars. but since then he has enlarged the business and so extended its in- fluence until he carries stock to the amount of two thousand dollars. besides owning the building, this latter with the beautiful home which he also owns, bringing his property in the town up to the handsome figure of about four thousand five hundred dollars.
By strict attention and good management. Mr. Frazier has built up a large and lucrative patronage and, as already stated, his establishment is now the best known and most successful of the kind in Morristown. In addition to a thoroughly equipped shop in which all kinds of tin work is done with neatness and dispatch, he carries a full line of everything in the way of house furnishings. His early experience was by no means encouraging. and for several years he encountered many obstacles, but by close application and an earnest desire to please his customers by first-class work, he gradually sur- mounted his difficulties and in due time found himself on the high road to prosperity. Adding to his stock as necessity required, and extending the scope of his operations, his business grew in magnitude and importance until. as stated in the preceding paragraph, his establishment took precedence over any other of the kind in the town, which standing it still maintains with en- couraging prospects of still larger and more satisfactory advancement in years to come.
Mr. Frazier is a married man and the father of two sons. E. L. and Robert M., aged five and two years, respectively. The wife and mother, who, before her marriage, was Bertha Wolfe, was reared in Morristown, of which her father, Warren Wolfe, was long a well known and prominent citizen. In his political views Mr. Frazier is a Prohibitionist and well versed in the history of all parties. He is active in Masonic circles. holding membership with Morristown Lodge, No. 193. Rushville Chapter, No. 24. Royal Arch
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Masons, and Council No. 41. in all of which branches he has been honored from time to time with positions of responsibility and trust. Reared under the influence of pious parents, he early accepted their religious belief, and for a number of years has been an earnest and respected member of the Christian church, being at this time a trustee of the Morristown congregation and a leading worker in the Sunday school. In all of his relations with his fellow men, Mr. Frazier has been governed by the highest principles of ethics.
D. A. PETTIGREW, M. D.
Sheer perseverance and energy, coupled with a determination to sur- mount all obstacles, are the attributes that have largely contributed to the suc- cess of Dr. D. A. Pettigrew as a medical practitioner. In the days of his boyhood the opportunities to secure an education were limited, but notwith- standing this fact he attained manhood's estate well equipped for the battle of life. Doctor Pettigrew was born in Decatur county, Indiana, March 1. 1851. being the second of a family of seven children. He is the son of Samuel and Henrietta ( MeCleery ) Pettigrew. His father was a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, and can to Indiana when still a boy. He became a physi- cian, and practiced medicine during many years of his life time in Decatur county. Indiana. The mother of Doctor Pettigrew was born in Decatur county. and resided there with her parents until her marriage: The parents of Doctor Pettigrew lived in Decatur county until 1870. when they moved to Kansas. both of them dying in that state. the father in 1898, at the age of seventy- three. and the mother in 1901, in her seventieth year. Both are buried at Topeka.
Doctor Pettigrew was married to Matilda Schaefer, October 2, 1875. at Hope, Indiana. She was born July 20, 1856, in Bartholomew county, being the daughter of Herman and Ernestine ( Beckstadt ) Schaefer, both natives of Germany, and coming to the United States in 1854. Her father conducte l a mercantile business and was also interested in farming. He and his wife spent most of their married lives in Bartholomew county, both of them dying there. she in 1876, and her husband. February 27. 1898. They were the parents of nine children, four boys and five girls, all of whom reached the years of maturity and are now living.
Immediately upon the marriage of Doctor Pettigrew he settled at Flat Rock. Indiana, and has lived there ever since with the exception of four years. when he lived at Lamar. Missouri. Doctor Pettigrew has been very successful in his career as a physician. both professionally and financially. He has a very large practice, and has invested with profit in real estate in various sections of
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Indiana. The couple are the parents of six children, three boys and three girls. and all of them are living, the order of their birth being as follows: Charles D .. physician and specialist at Terre Haute, Indiana : Amelia P., wife of Frank Snepp. of New Albany, Indiana : Albert. a large cattle breeder of Wootton. Colorado: Ella. Herman and Henrietta, all single, and residing with their parents.
Doctor Pettigrew is a member of the Masonic Lolge at Norristown. and the Knights of Pythias at Flat Rock. He was at one time a member of the Red Men and Ancient Order United Workmen, but some time since dropped out of them. He is a Democrat, but has never been unusually active in politics. The members of his family belong to the Christian church at Flat Rock.
When Doctor Pettigrew graduated from the Indiana Medical College. March 28. 1873. his pockets were empty. but he entered upon life with a stout heart, and a determination to succeed. In the earlier days of his professional career his visits to his parents were made on horseback. with the time-honored saddlebags across the saddle. In those days there were no specialists, and Doctor Pettigrew was called upon to heal a great variety of diseases. For thirty years he has practiced in Shelby county, and the people of the com- munity are of a unit in declaring him to be in the topmost rank of his pro- fession.
THOMAS C. WRENICK.
Among the enterprising men of Morristown is Thomas C. Wrenick. a native of Indiana, and proud of the fact that he first saw the light of day in the county of which he has been a life-long residiert and with which his pres- ent interests are so closely and vitally associated. He was born March 20. 1839. in Hanover township. Shelby county, being the son of William P. Wren- ick. who left his native state of Kentucky when a boy and. after spending some time in Indianapolis. finally settled near Broad Ripple, near the capital city. Later he was engaged in agriculture in the counties of Hamilton and Shelby, removed from the latter to White county, but after a brief residence there returned to Shelby, where he made his home until migrating to Jowa. Becoming dissatisfied with conditions in that state he finally returned to the county of Shelby, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying about the year 1896. William P. Wrenick was a man of energy and determination. a Republican in politics and a sincere Christian, belonging in early life to the Methodist Protestant church and later to the Church of the Disciples. Of his family of eight children, but three are living, namely : William .A .. a veteran of the Civil war; Thomas C., of this review, and G. T. Wrenick, all reputable citizens and highly esteemed in their respective places of residence.
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The carly life of Thomas C. Wrenick was spent on a farm, where he learned, while still a mere lad. the lessons of industry and consecutive effort. which had such a marked influence in shaping his future course of action in the right direction. In such schools as the country afforded he obtained the rudiments of an. education which. supplement d by much reading in after years and the knowledge which comes from mingling with the world. mide him, in due time. a widely informed and practically educated man. In 1862 he chose a wife and helpmeet in the person of Lydia E. Wolf, daughter of John Wolf. and a niece of Dr. J G. Wolf, the latter for many years an emi- nent physician of Morristown and one of Shelby county's representative citi- zens and public officials. Mrs. Wrenick was born in Hancock county. Indiana, received her early e lucation in the public schools, and later was for some years a student of Earlham College.
During the five years following his marriage. Mr. Wrenick devoted his attention to agriculture, but at the expiration of that time he discontinued till- ing the soil and in 1870 engaged in the drug business at Morristown in partner- ship with his brother. George, whose interest he purchased at the end of one year. and became sole proprietor. By close attention to business, and always treating his customers with courtesy and consideration. he som succeeded in building up a large and lucrative trade and for many years his establishment was the largest of the kind in the town as well as the best patronize 1. Mr. Wrenick's commercial experiences, which extended over a period of thirty- eight years, was eminently satisfactory professionally and highly successful financially. as is indicated by the ample fortune with which he retired from business in 1908, being then as now one of the well-to-do men of the town. as well as one of its leading citizens. Aside from the interests mention of he dealt in agricultural implements for a number of years, and did an extensive business, being the first man to introduce the Oliver Chilled plow into Shelby county, which he continued to handle for thirty-six years, during which time he disposed of many thousand and earned the reputation of a very skillful salesman. He was agent for the Hamilton cultivators for the same period and met with equal success in their sale as well as in the sale of various other implements and machinery. He has always taken an active interest in agri- culture and all societies and means for its promotion.
In the management of his affairs Mr. Wrenick has always been governed by correct principles and honorable motives, while his mature judgment and wise discretion have enabled him to foresee with remarkable accuracy the fu- ture outcome of present action, with the result that his business efforts in the main have been successful and. as already started. he occupies today a place among the influential men of the community. In addition to valuable city prop- erty, including a fine, modern dwelling. the business bl ck he formerly ocen- pied, and the opera hall, he owns considerable real estate in the country, a part
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of which is a well cultivated farin of eighty acres, from which he derives no inconsiderable portion of his ince me.
Mr. Wrenick is a Democrat, but aside from exercising the duties which devolve upon all good citizens, he ro longer tikes an active part in politics. though formerly he was for fitten years one of his party's leaders, and for fifteen years a member of the County Central Committee. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and, though not connected with any church or religions organization. he is a frequent attendant and liberal contributor to the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belongs and in which she is an earnest worker.
Mr. and Mrs. Wrenick have had six children, two of whom are deceased. those living being daughters and all married. Ehna, the oldest of the family, has been married three times, first to Mr. Ledlow, after whose death she be- came the wife of James M1. Tyner. After a second widowhood. she entered the marriage relation with Nathan Porter. her present husband. Her daughter. Fannie Ledlow, is now the wife of Hugh Holder. of Wisconsin. Fannie. the second daughter, who is deceased, was the wife of L. A. McDonald. Ger- trude married W. H. Phillipi, and lives in Morristown. Cora, now Mrs. F. F. Stonebraker. resides in Memphis, Tennessee, has one child, Donakl E .. who attends school at Memphis; and Earl, who married Joseph Zike, makes her home in Morristown.
Mr. Wrenick provided his children with excellent educational advantages and spared no pains nor expense in their training. All were graduates from the high school at Morristown, and Gertrude, now Mrs. Phillipi, was for sev- eral years one of the county's most successful and popular teachers.
ALEXANDER I. McLANE.
Alexander I. McLane was born in County Derry, Ireland, October 13. 1831. His parents, with two sons and one daughter, came to America in IS51 and settled in Shelbyville. Indiana. A third son, Thomas, had preceded them in 1844. Alexander I. McLane was the youngest of five children. all of whom are now dead. He was educated in Ireland. In the summer of 1851 he began learning the carpenter's trade, in which he attained consider. able success. Later he studied architecture and became an expert in stair- building. In 1866 he returned to Ireland to marry his first wife, Miss Mary Ann Given. Only one child was born of this union, Annie I. Mrs. McLane died April 26. 1870. Six years later Mr. McLane was married to Miss .An- geline E. Linton, of Bucyrus, Ohio, by whom he had six children. Gertrude. James, Bertha, Robert, William and Arthur. Gertrude and Bertha are teachers
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CHADWICK'S HISTORY OF SHELBY CO., IND.
in the city - chools of Shelbyville: Robert and William are skilled mechanics: Arthur is a student at Indiana University. James died when eleven years of age. The MeLanes are of Scotch origin and have been Presbyterians for many generations.
Annie 1. McLane, only daughter of her father's first marriage, was only three years of age when deprived of a mother's love and care. By her mother's request she was taken charge of by a relative. Rev. James F. Irvine. of Newark, Ohio, with whom she lived until his death. Some years later his widow and daughter moved to Zanesville, Ohio, Miss Annie I. MeLane accom- panying them to their new home. She resided at Zanesville from her eleventh to her fourteenth year, when she returned to her father's home, at Shelbyville. where she attended schoel until she was nineteen years oldl. when she returned to her former home at Zanesville. Ohio, where she remained until 1905. Meantime her father had died and it was necessary for her to take charge of the estate which had been left to her. Besides her school attendance while in Newark. Zanesville and Shelbyville. she had also taken a course of short- hand and typewriting at the Zanesville Business College, where she was grad- uated in these important branches. She had also acquired some experience as a teacher by two years' educational work in the schools of Muskingum county. Ohio. In her final return to Shelbyville she soon saw the advantages of a business education, as it came into play at almost every turn. especially in the platting of her new addition to the city, consisting of fifty-eight lots, known as "Riverside." Miss McLane, with the aid of her relative. Miss Annie M. Ir- vine, who now makes her home with her, superintended the building and sale of the houses, her lawyer being called on only to make out deeds and do other routine legal work. Besides "Riverside" Miss Mclane and Miss Irvine to gether have bought an addition called "Washington Park." consisting of some twenty-one lots, which adjoin "Riverside." and are to be disposed of after the first allotments have all been sold.
Miss McLane's residence is picturesquely situated on a hill fronting East Broadway and the Jeffersonville. Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. The grounds contain several acres and are filled with a variety of fruit trees and shrubbery.
HARRY M. ROGERS.
A hardware merchant and one of the representative business men of Mor- ristown is Harry M. Rogers, a native of Shelby county. Indiana, born in Hanover township on the 8th day of October, 1865. Thornton Rogers, his father, a Virginian by birth, came to Shelby county at an early date and set- tled on a farm a few miles west of Shelbyville. He was a blacksmith by trade.
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In 1864 he removed to the township of Hanover, where he purchased a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was successful in his chosen voca- tion, a substantial and praiseworthy citizen and an earnest and sincere Chris- tian, contributing liberally to the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he belonged, and serving a number of years as trustee of the organization. Later he left the farm and moved to Morristown, where he spent the last fifteen years of his life in honorable and restful retirement, dying in 1882. Elizabeth Wilson, wife of Thornton Rogers, was born in Shelby county. Her parents settled here in an early day and died a number of years ago when she was quite young. She survived her husband ten years, being called from earth in 1802. and the two now sleep side by side awaiting the resurrection of the just. Of the large family of nine children born to this excellent couple, Mrs. Lucy Jones, of Indianapolis, and Harry M., of this review, only are living. In common with the majority of country boys, Harry M. Rogers was reared to farm labor, and in the district schools which he attended in winter months during his minority he acquired a fair knowledge of the common branches. While still a youth he began earning his own livelihood as a farm hand at fifty cents per day, and he was thus engaged until twenty-one years of age. when he turned his attention to other and far different lines of effort. Shortly after attaining his majority he was appointed by President Harrison as post- master of Morristown, being one of the youngest men in the state to be thus honored. Despite his age. however, he proved a capable and thoroughly reliable official, and the four years during which he had charge of the office he made a record comparing with that of any of his predecessors. The posi- tion came to him in recognition of valuable political services as well as by reason of his fitness for the place. as he early became an active and influential worker for the Republican party and a wise and judicious adviser in its councils.
In the year 1894 Mr. Rogers engaged in the hardware trade and in due time built up a lucrative business, which continued to grow in magnitude and importance until his establishment became the largest of the kind in Morristown as well as the most liberally patronized. His financial success has been com- mensurate with the energy and ability displayed in his business affairs, and in addition to the large store of which he is the proprietor, he is interested in various other enterprises, being a stockholder in the Union State Bank and a director for the same since the death of IL. B. Cole, whom he succeeded on the board: he also owns a half interest in the building in which he carries his large stock of hardware and the beautiful modern residence which he and his family occupy is included among his several possessions in Morristown.
Mr. Rogers, in the year 1894. entered the marriage relation with Marie M. Bryan, daughter of C. K. Bryan, of Shelbyville, and a graduate of the high school of that city, a union blessed with two children. Lawrence C .. born
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May 12, 1895, and Robert T., who first saw the light of day June 11. 1Ses, both high school students and well advanced for youths of their age. Mr. Rogers has always manifested a lively interest in public matters, and since tak- ing up his residence here his efforts have been to promote the material prog- ress of the place and give it honorable publicity abread. He has served one term as Town Clerk and two terms on the board of town trustees. He is the present treasurer of the local school board, in which capacity he has labored earnestly to advance the cause of education and raise the standard of the schools. He is a leading spirit in the Shelby County Joint Stock Agricultural Association. representing the township in which he lives, having served two years as superintendent of the agricultural department, and he is at present superintendent of the buggy department. To his efforts as much as to those of any other member is due the growth and popularity of the organization and its importance as a means of promoting the objects which the founders had in view.
Mr. Rogers is a member of Morristown Lodge. No. 193. Free and .Ac- cepted Masons, and he is also identified with Navarre Lodge, No. 156. Knights of Pythias. For a number of years he has been a sincere and re- spected member of the Methodist church, in the work of which he is seconded by his wife, who is also a faithful worker in the Sunday school.
ALONZO N. TREES.
The family of this name has been identified with Shelby county almost from the time of its organization. Jacob Trees, a native of Pennsylvania. entered land in Noble township at a very early day, prospered. reared a family and his numerous descendants have always been included in the county's best citizenship. David Trees, one of the sons of the pioneer founder, was born February 14. 1832, and was engaged during his whole adult life in farming. his death occurring March 15. 1902. He married on May 25. 1853. Sarah Stafford, daughter of an old pioneer family, whose children became pros- perous and influential in the eastern section of the county. She was born in what is now Shelby township. May 26, 1838, and is still living. They had three children. Angeline, the eldest. married Dudley M. Brooks, now de- ceased, has five children, and resides on a farm in Noble township. Pleasant G., the youngest son, married Narcissus Bone, has one son, and is farming the old home place.
Alonzo N. Trees, the eldest son of the family, was born in Noble town- ship. Shelby county, Indiana, October 7. 1849. The schools were pour in those days, and he had to pick up his learning at odd times during the short
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winter terms, helping on the farm in summer as all sons of pioneer farmers were accustomed to do. After he grew up. he became a farmer, like his an- cestors, and achieved snecess in his chosen line, though it took much hard work and good management. September 12. 1880. Mr. Trees was married to Katie .A. Floyd, a member of a family deserving of especial mention in any history of Shelby county. Her parents were Arthur W. and Cynthia .1. (Bone) Floyd, natives of Shelby county. The father of Arthur W. Flowl was a native of Pennsylvania, and was one of the earliest settlers of Noble township, and left descendants who achieved influence in various lines of business, chiefly agriculture. Arthur W. Floyd had several children of whom four are living. William E .. the eldest, became the father of a daughter, at present Mrs. Daisy Auburn, of Newcastle, Pennsylvania. Mathias, the sec- ond son, is dead, leaving a wife. Elizabeth, who is the mother of three chil dren, Carrie, Jennie and Arthur. Eugene Floyd and Mrs. Trees complete the family. Cynthia ( Bone) Floyd, the mother of Mrs. Trees, who is a resi- dent of Shelbyville, was born December 10. 1831. and has two brothers and two sisters living. The grandmother of Cynthia .A. ( Bone ) Floyd was Mar- garet Abbot, who was born in Clark county. Indiana. She was married to Josiah Williams about 1807. To this union were born seven children. Sally. the second daughter, was born in Clark county, Indiana, March 17. 1810. This family moved to what is now known as the Floyd farm when she was ten years old. Sally Williams was married to William E. Bone when nineteen years old. the ceremony having been performed upon this farm January 28. 1829, and to this union were born the following children : Caroline, Cynthia Ann, Anderson, Alfred. Margaret. Mary Janett. Thomas. Matilda and Pru- dence. Cynthia. the second daughter in order of birth, was born December 10, 1831. in Shelby county. She was married to Arthur W. Floyd January 14. 1849. in Shelby county, near Cave Mills, on Sunday morning before breakfast. The weather was very cold and the ground so slick that horses could not stand on the ice. To this union were born five children. William E. was born in Shelby county. December 2. 1849: Mathias. November 9. 1852; Hester, born August 5. 1857 : Katie. A., born March 2. 1862, and Eu- gene, January 8. 1869. Cynthia Bore's grandfather was William Bone. born in Virginia. October 17. 1769. and he died September 27. 1830. Cynthia Bone's grandmother was Agnes McGuire, who was born November 17, 1772; married William Bone, and died March 5. 1848. To this union were born ten children. William E. Bone was born September 2. 1810, in Warren county, Ohio, and he married Sally Williams January 28, 1829. Arthur Floyd's grandmother on his father's side was named House. His grandmother on the maternal side was named Crisler. Betsy House married John Floyd. Mathias Floyd was born January 8, 1796, in Pennsylvania. He was married to Jemima Crisler, and they came to Indiana from Kentucky. To this union
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