USA > Indiana > Clay County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 96
USA > Indiana > Owen County > Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana : Historical and biographical. > Part 96
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is a member of the K. of P., A. F. & A. M., I. O. O. F., K. of H., and of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is at present Chairman of the Town Council. He was married in 1867 to Carrie Bladen, by whom there are seven children.
ORRIS T. DICKERSON is a native of Owen County, born January 23, 1851. His parents, Buckner and Mary E. (Wood) Dickerson, emi- grated to Owen County, Ind., from Kentucky in 1829, and located in Washington Township. They shortly afterward removed to Morgan Township; located and remained there for some time, and at present re- side in Spencer. Our subject is the youngest in a family of seven chil- dren, and was reared in Washington Township where he was educated at the district schools, and attended three terms at the Spencer Schools. In 1867, he commenced trading in stock and farming, and is so engaged at present. He was united by marriage, July 1, 1871, to Mary M. Work- man, daughter of Otho and Catharine Workman, old settlers of Owen County. By this union there have been four children, three of whom are living. Mr. Dickerson was elected Auditor of Owen County, November 7, 1882, on the Democratic ticket, and took upon himself the duties of that office November 7, 1883. He is a member of the K. of H., of the K. & L. of H. and of the A. F. & A. M. He has been a consistent mem- ber of the Christian Church for several years.
CAPT. WILEY E. DITTEMORE is the eldest child of George and Margaret A. (Johnson) Dittemore. He was born in Wayne Township, Owen Co., Ind., January 19, 1834, where he was reared and educated at the district schools in the neighborhood. His parents were natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, and of German and Scotch extraction respect- ively. They were married in Owen County in 1832. His father was one of Owen County's most active politicians. He served several terms as Sheriff and Treasurer of this county, and died in Gosport on May 5, 1864. Mrs. Margaret Dittemore died in 1863. Wiley began teach- ing school about ten years previous to his mother's death. He taught for twelve months in Wayne Township, and then farmed for one season. In 1857, he began the practice of law, in which he continued until June, 1861, when he entered the army as Second Lieutenant under Col. Kim- ball. He served for four years, and took part in the engagements at Resaca, Atlanta and Kenesaw Mountain, and then marched with Sherman to the sea, and on to Washington. . After the battle at Atlanta, for meri- torious conduct, he was promoted to Captain and served in that capacity until the close of the war. In February, 1859, he first came to .Spencer, and on his return after the close of the war again began the practice of law. In 1868, he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Legisla- ture; the year following, he was re-elected without opposition. In 1870, he was elected State Senator from the district comprising Owen and Greene Counties; in 1871, he was Chairman of the State Central Com- mittee on Prisons; seven years later, he was made a member of the State Central Committee, and in the same year he served as Grand Dictator of the Grand Lodge, K. of H., and at the close of this term of office was elected Representative of the Supreme Lodge of that order. He served for two years, and also acted as Dictator to that lodge at Spencer. He is at present one of its most prominent members, and also of the G. A. R. Since 1878, he has practiced law at Spencer quite successfully. He was married at Gosport in January, 1855, to Miss Della .Day. By this union there were three children-Florence, May and Clarence. His
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wife died in 1863, and December 28, 1865, he was married to Dora Leonard, daughter of Montgomery Leonard, of Bloomington, and an old and respected citizen of Owen County. Mr. Dittemore is an earnest sup- porter of Democratic principles, and is a worthy citizen in good stand- ing, and highly esteemed. His wife is an active member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
SAMUEL W. DUNN, a leading farmer, and one of the oldest pio- neers in Owen County, is a native of Kentucky, and was born in Livings- ton County April 5, 1804. He is the eighth child born to John and Mar- garet K. (Karn) Dunn, natives of Virginia and Kentucky respectively, and of Scotch extraction. His father enlisted in the war of 1812, in his brother William's company. After his discharge from the service, he emigrated to Jefferson County, Ind., and shortly afterward to Owen County, where he died. During his residence in Owen County, he was Associate Judge for seven years. He was twice elected, and once ap- pointed Probate Judge of the county; he was also County Agent for some time. The first court ever held in this county was in his dwelling, then a rudely-constructed, double log cabin. He it was, who built the first ferry-boat in the connty on White River, just a half mile east of Spen- cer; he has but two out of eight children living-Margaret K. Archer, and the subject of this sketch, Samuel W. Dunn, who was in his thir- teenth year when he came with his father to this county, crossing the river on the ice. Until a cabin could be constructed, they slept on brush piles with the sky for shelter. Samuel received such an education as the pio- neer life afforded, and when twenty-two years of age, he joined his father in the farm and hotel business. During the years from 1827 to 1843, he managed a flat-boat, and fourteen years of this time he was County Agent. He also continued farming, and for some time owned and operated a tan- vard. After 1843, he began dealing in stock, driving to and selling in the Northern markets. During his trips north, he became acquainted with his present wife, Susan A. Harrison, to whom he was married in 1846. She is a native of New England. In 1855, he began business life, under financial difficulties. His father's property was reduced considerably on account of his own indebtedness, so Samuel was obliged to borrow money of his more fortunate uncle to start with. By this means, being industrious and thrifty, he finally paid off all his father's indebtedness, besides which he had amassed a large amount of property which he divided between his brothers and sisters, who had helped to accumulate this, by their industry at home, while he was abroad. After a long eventful life not yet finished, having met with much good and some re- verses of fortune, he and his wife are now living on their farm two and one- half miles north of Spencer, with the blessing of good health, and the comforts of life around them. He is eighty years of age. He has five sons living-Samuel, Charles. Lemuel, Frank and Oliver; two sons and one daughter dead. Since 1848, he has been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
S. H. DUNN is the eldest of eight children, born to Samuel and Susan A. (Harrison) Dunn. His father was a native of Kentucky, and came to Owen County when but fourteen years of age. He endured all the hardships of a pioneer life, and is a self-made man. He is eighty years of age, and himself and wife are now living two and one-half miles from Spencer, in Washington Township. Our subject was born in Milwaukee, Wis., July 23, 1849. He then was reared in Owen County
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Ind., and at the age of fifteen years he entered the Asbury University, at Greencastle, taking the classical course of instruction. After three years attendance there, he was a student in Indiana State University at Bloomington for two years. He then taught school for some time, and finally became engaged in the mercantile business, of which he made a success. Since 1876, he has studied and practiced law exclusively. He is now permanently in Spencer, and has a promising practice, both at his home and in the Monroe County bar. He is one of the leading young lawyers, energetic as a practitioner, and conscientious in dealing with his clients. He was married, December 22, 1870, to Emma L. James, of Monroe County, Ind., and has a family of five children-Edward, Samuel, Willie, Gracie and Maudie. His wife's parents are James and Mary A. James, natives of Virginia and Kentucky.
GEORGE W. EDWARDS, Justice of the Peace, was born in Clay Town- ship, Owen County, Ind., November 3, 1831. His parents, Isaac and Mary (Collier) Edwards, emigrated to Owen County at an early date, and lo- cated in Washington Township, where they remained until the mother's death, March 12, 1883. George is the third in a family of eleven chil- dren, and was reared upon the farm in Washington Township, where he was educated in the district schools. In 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Eighty-second Indiana Volunteers, under W. F. Neil. In 1863, he was discharged on account of disability, and came home, where he remained until February, 1865. He enlisted in Company G, Forty-third Indiana Volunteers, and stayed out until the close of the war, being in active service. In January, 1866, he married Sarah C. Dow, of Owen County. By this union, there were seven children, all dead but two. The mother died in Spencer December 31, 1881, and in 1882 he married May Worrell, daughter of Isaac and Nancy Worrell, of Bloomington, Ind., After his first marriage, he farmed in Washington Township for eleven years; then came to Spencer and went into the butcher business, which he followed for eighteen months. After this he acted as Constable for some time, and was finally appointed Marshal of Spencer, which position he held for one year. He was also County Coroner for several years, and in the spring of 1880 purchased a farm, about four miles east of Spencer, where he farmed for about one year, when he sold it and returned to town, where, in 1880, he was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he very creditably fills at present.
JACOB EVERLY is the tenth child, and fifth son of Jacob and Lydia (Miller) Everly, natives of Pennsylvania. He was born in Carroll County, Ohio, August 9, 1838, where four years later his father died. His mother has since resided in Carroll County, where she reared and educated her children. The subiect of this sketch was, until the age of seventeen, at his home in Ohio, after which time he came to Owen County, Ind., and for four years worked with different farmers. In 1861, he en- listed in Company A, Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, under Capt. Thomas A. McNaught. He served for four years, and took part in the following engagements: Battle of New Madrid, Vicksburg, also the sieges of Vicks- burg and Corinth, first and second battles of Corinth, assisted in the capture of the prisioners at Island No. 10, at Tipton, battle of Mission Ridge, and in April, 1863, he was detailed as Sergeant of the guard, at headquarters of the Army and Department of the Tennessee. 'On July 23, 1865, he was mustered out of the service, and then returned to Owen County, where he- purchased a farm in Lafayette Township, continuing there until 1873.
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In February, 1868, he was married to Nancy J. Rodgers, daughter of Findley Lappin, a citizen of Kansas. They have two children-Florence B. and Lewis R. In the fall of 1873, he went to Vandalia, Owen County, and formed a partnership in the general merchandise business, and continued in it for two years, when he again began the life of a farmer. In August, 1883, he sold out, returned to Spencer, and is at present engaged in stock trading Mr. Everly is a member of I. O. O. F. Himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Everly is politically a Democrat.
FRANK M. FIELD is a native of Scott County, Ind., born June 3, 1855. His father is a native of Kentucky, who came to Indiana early in life, and settled in Scott County, where he married Mary Scott; they remained here for many years, and at present reside in the southern part of Monroe County, on a well-improved farm. Our subject is the sixth in a family of nine children. He lived at home until 1868, when he engaged himself as brakeman on the Louisville & Nashville R. R. After two years, he was made conductor of a freight train on the same road. In 1871, he was given the position of conductor on a passenger train. He served for two years, and then came to Indiana, located in Spencer in 1874, when he was employed as commercial traveler for a wholesale boot and shoe house of Louisville. He remained in this business for two years, after which he went into the employ of R. L. Stevens & Co., of Louisville, manufacturers of boots and shoes. He worked in the employ of this firm for two years; then went into the general merchandise business in Spencer, where until the spring of 1883 he carried on a successful and profitable business, and then sold his stock to P. Miller. Mr. Field is at present assisting in Melville Loftin's dry goods store. He was married in 1874, to Emma McNaught, daughter of Robert and Sarah A. McNaught, respected pioneers of Owen County. By this union there is one child-Mary, born October 1, 1877. Mr. Field is considered one of Owen County's most successful business men. He is politically a Democrat, and is a highly respected citizen of Spencer.
CALVIN FLETCHER was born at Indianapolis, Ind., September 30, 1826. His parents were Calvin Fletcher, a native of Vermont, and Sarah Hill, a native of Kentucky, who were married in Ohio in 1820, after which they removed to the then recently located capital of this Siate. Calvin, Jr., was one of a family of nine sons and two daughters. Educational facilities were very good for the period, and Mr. F., after the usual course at the County Seminary, spent two years in the store of Harrison & Porter, at a salary of $5 per month. At the end of this serv- ice, in 1846, he entered Brown University, Providence, R. I. In the third year of his college course, he returned home and adopted the life of a farmer. On September 18, 1849, he was married to Emily Beeler, of Marion County, Ind. She was the daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Mathews) Beeler, natives respectively of Virginia and North Carolina. For ten years, Mr. F. resided on the farm whereon Brightwood and the northeastern suburbs of Indianapolis are located. On account of the failing health of Mrs. F. he removed to Indianapolis, where he resided until 1869. During this score of years, as farmer, stock-trader, nurseryman, and identified with the organization and control of the various county and State agricultural and horticultural societies, his life was an active one-sufficiently varied, however, to insure good health. The years of the war found his wife the better soldier, and while she spent
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two years in hospital and other duties of relief, Mr. F. devoted himself to building turnpike roads, which were then badly needed in the flat country of Central Indiana. In 1866, he united with Judge Franklin, of this county, and many others, for the purpose of building the Indian- apolis & Vincennes Railroad, and as managing agent for Gen. Burnside, and as contractor, devoted three years to the completion of the work. It was while thus engaged he became acquainted with the locality which has since become his home in Owen County, and he removed from In- dianapolis to Spencer in June, 1869, to carry out the purpose of his life, viz., to make a homestead for his family. In the winter of 1873-74, he visited Southern California, and in the interest of the Indiana Col- ony subdivided the site of Pasadena, which is so largely known as the Paradise of the Pacific Coast. In September, 1874, Mr. F. sailed with his family for Europe, and after two months' journeyings through Ire- land, Scotland and England, went by way of France to Italy, where the young people settled for study at Naples, while Mr. F. and wife, after four months' of Neapolitan life, took passage for Egypt, Palestine, Tur- key, Greece and the Islands of the Mediterranean. In May, after visit- ing the cities of Italy, he located his family for a year's study at Lau- sanne, Switzerland, on Lake Leman, and returned home via France and England, since which time he has spent most of his time in the improve- ment of his home, especially in practically working out the problem of fish culture in small ponds. His success in this industry led to his ap- pointment as Fish Commissioner of Indiana, a position he now holds. In 1877, after an absence of three years, one of which was spent in Weimar, in Saxony, the family returned from abroad. Mr. and Mrs. F. have four children, two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Horace, is a farmer at Waverly, Ind .; the younger son, Calvin I., is a physician in Indianapolis. The elder daughter, Sarah, is the wife of Dr. Wagner, of Indianapolis, and the younger, Emily, is with her parents. In re- sponse to a direct inquiry, Mr. F. said the ambition of his life had been to become a fair representative of the average American citizen, which he considers the best standard of manhood in every sense on earth, as far as his observation extends. He believes firmly that ultimately Amer- ican ideas will prevail throughout the earth.
INMAN H. FOWLER, attorney at law, Spencer, was born at Lewis- burg, Preble County, Ohio, June 7, 1834. He is the son of John and Sarah Fowler. His great-grandfather, Jacob Fowler, came from Ger- many to this country about the year 1750. Jacob and his brother Adam were brought over by an aunt, when they were quite young. The aunt settled near Haddenfield, N. J., and there the two boys were hired out for awhile to pay for their passage over; and there they grew to man - hood, spent their lives, married, reared large families, many of whom yet live in and around Haddenfield, and there they both died and were buried not far from the town where they first settled. Jacob Fowler married an English lady by the name of Sarah Inman, whose maiden name the subject of this sketch bears. They had ten children-seven boys and three girls. Joseph Fowler was the oldest child. He married a lady near Haddenfield, by the name of Hannah Wiltse, and by this union there were ten children. John Fowler, the father of Inman H. Fowler, was born, January 1, 1808, and was the eldest child of Joseph and Hannah. Joseph Fowler and his son John were both born in Had- denfield. Joseph afterward removed to Philadelphia with his family,
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and from thence to Lewisburg, in Preble County, Ohio, where he and his wife died. January 1, 1831, John Fowler married Sarah Kesler, daugh- ter of George and Catharine Kesler, of Lewisburg. They were na- tives of Virginia, and moved to Ohio in a very early day. Sarah was born in Virginia September 8, 1810, and came to Ohio with her parents. John and Sarah had five children, four boys and one girl. In- man H. was the third son. In 1836, John Fowler with his family moved from Lewisburg to Tippecanoe County, Ind. He remained there but a short time when he moved to Louisa County, Iowa. At this time Iowa was a frontier Territory, inhabited only by Indians. August 25, 1839, the father of Inman H. died, and on the 19th of September fol- lowing, an older brother died. After this the mother with the balance of the family returned to Tippecanoe County, and settled on a farm, and from there she moved to Clinton County where she yet resides. Mr. Fowler having been thrown upon his own resources at a very early day in life, had to struggle with many adverse fortunes; yet, he availed himself of every opportunity to acquire an education, which he did by alter- nately teaching and attending school. In 1858, he moved to Owen County and settled at Spencer, having taught school in that town the first year after he came to the county. In 1859, he entered the Clerk's office of the Owen Circuit Court, as Deputy Clerk, under Basil Meek, Esq., in which position he remained for two years, and until the expiration of Mr. Meek's term of office. On the 4th day of July, 1861, Mr. Fowler was nominated by the Democratic Convention of Owen County, for Clerk of the Circuit Court, to succeed Mr. Meek. His op- ponents before the convention were Philip Buck, of Quincy, and Will- iam S. Bullett, of Cataract. On the first ballot, Mr. Fowler was nomi- nated, receiving all the votes in the convention but five. His opponent before the people was John J. Cooper, Esq., who had just served eight years as Auditor of the county, and whose name had become a house- hold word in every family in the county. The race was regarded as a very doubtful one. Mr. Cooper had made a very fine Anditor, was very popular with his party, was conservative, and had a host of warm per- sonal friends among the Democrats. The war of the rebellion had just broken out. The whole nation was in a blaze of excitement; party spirit ran high; life-long friends engaged in personal abuse of each other, and in bitter denunciation and arraignment. The election came off; the Democrats were successful, and the entire Democratic ticket was elected. In 1865, just at the close of the war, Mr. Fowler was re-nomi nated for a second term without opposition. The Republican candidate for Clerk was Maj. Harry Woodsmall, a clever and gallant gentleman who had served in the army with honor and distinction, and came home, unable longer to continue in the service, owing to the wounds which he had received in battle. Again the Democratic ticket was successful, and Mr. Fowler was re-elected to a second term. Those who remember the can- vass of 1861 and the canvass of 1865, remember them as the most remark- able in the history of Owen County politics. Excitement and party zeal were such as has never been witnessed in Owen County in any political canvass before or since. Mr. Fowler served as Clerk till the 28th day of October, 1870, having held the office for one year longer than the term for which he was elected. This was owing to the fact that the Legisla- ture, at its session in 1869, changed the elections from annual to biennial. Mr. Fowler's term would have expired in the fall of 1869, if there had
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been an election, but there being no election till the next fall, he held over till after his successor was elected at the October election in 1870. Meantime, he improved his spare time in reading and preparing himself for the practice of law, having determined to make that his profession in life, and to make every other interest subservient to that one purpose. After he had retired from the clerk's office, he immediately entered the law department of the State University, where he graduated in 1871, in a class of thirty-two, the largest law class ever graduated from that institution. He returned to Spencer, and entered upon the practice of the law in partnership with the Hon. John C. Rolinson. This partnership continued till the fall of 1877, when Mr. Rolinson was elected Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and at the same election Mr. Fowler was elected State Senator for the Senatorial district, composed of the counties of Owen and Clay. His opponent in this political contest for Senatorial honors was Dr. David M. McDonald, of Quincy, a cultivated and scholarly gentleman, and a son of the late Federal Judge, David McDonald, and, although the district was a close one, and the contest re- garded as doubtful, Mr. Fowler's majority in the two counties was 700. He was a member of the Senate during the regular and special sessions of 1877, and during the regular and special sessions of 1879. During his Senatorial term, he was an active, energetic and working member of that body. He was placed on some of the most important committees, regular and special, in the Senate, and always had an eye single to the interests of his constituents. Some of the most important bills intro- duced at these sessions were framed by his hand, and many of which afterward became laws, and are yet upon the statute books of the State. One of the bills which he succeeded in getting through the Senate, and which became a law, was a bill originating in the House of Representatives, and was to compel operators to ventilate their coal mines. This bill, for four or tive previous Legislatures, had passed the House of Representa- tives, but met with bitter opposition and defeat in the Senate. At the regular session of 1879, after the bill had passed the House, it came to the Senate, and was taken in charge by Senator Fowler, and although there was an organized opposition by the operators, yet, after a heated and bitter contest, it passed the Senate, was approved by the Governor and became and yet is a law. This was one of the most humane acts passed at that session of the Legislature, and was in the interest of a large class of miners working the coal mines throughout the State, where lives were in constant and imminent danger from accumulations and explosions of noxious gases in the mines. In 1875, Mr. Fowler, with several other stockholders, organized the Exchange Bank of Spen- cer. At the time of its organization, he was elected Vice President and Attorney for the bank, which positions he has ever since held, and the success, standing and confidence enjoyed by the bank are largely due to his management of its finances. Mr. Fowler is just at the meridian of life, and in the full vigor of manhood, and, although nearly fifty, he would pass for a man of not more than forty or less. He is actively en- gaged in the practice of law, in which he takes great pride. He is in- dustrious and painstaking, and when he addresses court or jury, he knows just what he wants to say; and the zeal, energy and ability with which he represents his clients has given him a prominent place at the bar wherever he practices. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. September 20, 1866, he married Miss Vina H., daughter of
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