USA > Indiana > Vigo County > Terre Haute > Greater Terre Haute and Vigo County : closing the first century's history of city and county, showing the growth of their people, industries and wealth > Part 17
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spicuously connected with the building interests of the city. He is a member of the encampment of Odd Fellows, the Maccabees and the Masons.
IRA D. ANDREWS, the secretary and treasurer of the Indiana-Texas Land Company, with offices in the Naylor-Cox block, Terre Haute, and active in the business, educational and social circles of Vigo county, was born in Vermilion county, Indiana. April 15, 1861, a son of John and Margaret (Rhoads) Andrews, natives of Ohio and Indiana respectively. John Andrews moved to Vermilion county from Ohio when a boy with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Andrews, led an agricultural life and Mr. Andrews died there in September of 1885, aged eighty-seven years. His wife died in 1883, when sixty-five years of age.
On his father's farm in Vermilion county, Ira D. Andrews grew to years of maturity and received his educational training in the district schools. He also attended the state normal in Grant county, Missouri, and for one year he taught in that state. Returning thence to Dana, Indiana. he spent one year in the hardware business, and then for two years farmed on rented land in Fayette township, Vigo county. Following this he purchased the old Squire Shirley farm and for a number of years devoted his activities to its cultivation and improvement. In 1900 he was elected the trustee of Fayette township, and during his four years' term in that office he attended and presided over each township institute -- an act unparalleled by any other trustee of the township. To his credit it may also be stated that he was elected as a Republican with a majority of sixty-four votes in a township with a nominal Democratic majority of fifteen, and had the whiskey element on both sides against him. Mr. Andrews engaged in his present business in 1904. but it was not until two years later that he moved from his farm to the city, and he still owns his estate of one hundred and ten acres in Fayette township, also four hundred and eighty acres in Swisher county, Northern Texas, and ten hundred and sixty-nine acres in the coast country of Texas. He is largely interested financially in the Indiana-Texas Land Company and is its secretary and treasurer.
He is now president of the Vigo County Sunday School Association, and served as its president eight years ago and has been very active in church and Sunday school circles for many years. He is a member of the Second United Brethren church and superintendent of its Sunday school. He was sought very much by the temperance people to make the race on the Republican ticket for county commissioner for the second district. This he refused largely on account of his many business interests which required all his time.
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Mr. Andrews married Mary E. Koonce, a daughter of John S. Koonce and a native of Fayette township. They have had three children, Lela M., Lena and May, but the first born died at the age of eight years. Mr. Andrews is a member of the Ivy Lodge, No. 564, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at New Goshen.
ABRAHAM L. MILLER is junior member of what is regarded as one of the strongest legal firms of Terre Haute-that of Crane & Miller. Born in Parke county, Indiana, upon the home farm, June 17, 1879, his parents were John and Martha ( Steel) Miller, natives of Parke and Putnam counties respectively, while the natal year of both was 1826. The paternal grandfather of our subject was John Miller, a native of Virginia, who emigrating westward in pioneer days became one of the early settlers of Parke county. There he'reared his family, and John Miller, Jr., after devoting his entire life to general agricultural pursuits. passed away in February, 1898, being survived for a brief period by his wife, who died in 1899.
Abraham L. Miller was reared upon the home farm. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of agricultural life for him through the period of his boyhood, which was devoted to the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. After mastering the branches of learning taught in the common schools, however, he became a student in Danville ( Indiana) College, where he remained during the school years of 1887, 1888 and 1889. He then devoted four years of his life to teaching, after which he returned to the Danville College and pursued the law course, while at the same time he read law in the office and under the direction of Hogate & Clark, well known attorneys of Danville. He was graduated in 1896 and was admitted to the bar in Danville in June, 1896, and at Terre Haute on the Ist of August, 1896. He then engaged in the practice of his profession in the office of I. H. C. Royse, while in 1899 he became a member of the law firm of Crane, Miller & Miller. This connection was discontinued in December, 1901, and the firm of Henry, Crane & Miller was formed, although it was more of an association than a partnership. In 1903 the present firm of Crane & Miller was organized and has taken rank with the leading law firms of the city, having an extensive patronage. Mr. Miller's mind is largely judicial in its cast, capable of an impartial view of both sides of a question and of arriving at a just conclusion. This gives his peculiar strength in the preparation of his cases. In his prac- tice he is absolutely fair, never indulging in artifice or concealment, never dealing in indirect methods, but winning his victories, which are many, and suffering his defeats, which are few, in the open field face to face
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with his foe. He has achieved distinction at the Terre Haute bar and deserves it.
In May, 1902, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Williams, a daughter of William Williams, now deceased, of Terre Haute. They have no children of their own but are rearing an adopted daughter, Susan.
Mr. Miller is very prominent in the Odd Fellows circles of Indiana, widely known in the fraternity throughout the state. He has filled all of the chairs in Amico Lodge, No. 707, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Vigo Encampment, No. 17. He is likewise a meinber of Canton McKeen, No. 28, of Patriarchs Militant and of Rockville Lodge of Rebekahs, No. 321. In 1907 he was elected grand warden of the Grand Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Indiana. He is also connected with the Masonic fraternity and the Improved Order of Red Men. The position to which he has attained in fraternal and legal circles has made him widely known, while his personal traits of character have gained him popularity and high regard.
JACOB ANSLEM PARKER, deceased, was for many years one of Terre Haute's most prominent citizens and successful business men, closely identified with, if not at the head of the iron manufacturing industry of the city. He was a native of Maine, born in Kennebec county, March 20, 1830, a son of Jacob R. and Louise (Robinson) Parker, both also natives of the Pine Tree state and of Scotch-Irish and English descent. Having attained his majority and in the meantime completing his educa- tion in the schools of his native commonwealth J. A. Parker went to Boston to enter upon an apprenticeship in the locomotive works in that city, and following this he became an engineer on a Maine railroad. In 1851 he came west, and with Terre Haute as his headquarters continued railroading in this section until in the following year he was made master mechanic of the old Greenville & Miami Railroad at Greenville, Ohio. After three years as a master mechanic Mr. Parker gave up all railroad work and going to York, Illinois, spent three years as a lumber merchant there, from whence he went to Hudsonville, that state, and resumed his lumber interests, at the same time adding a planing mill to his other interests. Near that city he purchased a farm of six hundred acres, which he improved and engaged quite extensively in the raising of blooded stock, in which he had always taken a great interest.
It was in 1871 that Mr. Parker made his way back to Terre Haute and it was at this time that he entered upon his brilliant and successful career as an iron manufacturer, first purchasing the old Eagle Iron Works and for over thirty years was at the head of this large and well known
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industrial institution. In 1902 he organized the Eagle Iron Works Company, of which he was the principal stockholder and was also made its president. But at this time, when he had reached the zenith of success, he decided to give up in a large measure the care of so vast and such a growing industry and retired to his farm at Hudsonville. There he passed away in death in October, 1905. In his relations to the community in which he so long labored and to so goodly ends he enjoyed the con- fidence which is always awarded to sterling integrity and achieved the honor of a spotless name.
Mr. Parker was married in Maine to Elizabeth Wentworth, a grand- daughter of Governor Wentworth, of that state, and she with the follow- ing children survive him: Gertrude, who married R. Geddes and resides in Indianapolis : Mary J., the wife of John C. Warren, of Terre Haute; George W., also of this city ; Thatcher A .. a prominent manufacturer of Terre Haute, and Elizabeth, the wife of N. S. Kidder, of Chicago.
George W., the third child and eldest son, was born at Hudsonville, Illinois, January 2, 1864. He came with his parents to Terre Haute in 1871 and attended the public and high school and the Rose Institute. In 1885 he became identified with his father in the Eagle Iron Works, and in 1902 succeeded him as its president. He married Alice Plimpton, of Vermont, and their children are George A .. Jr., and Harrold P.
Thatcher A. Parker, the youngest son of the late J. A. Parker, is one of the most prominent contractors and manufacturers in Terre Haute. He was born in Hudsonville, Illinois, September 28, 1868. passed through the graded and high schools of Terre Haute. and entered the State University, Lansing, Michigan. After leaving college he secured a position in the laboratory of the Homestead plant of the Carnegie & Phipps Steel Com- pany. at Pittsburg, but after fifteen months there returned to Terre Haute and accepted a position with the Eagle Iron Works. In 1892, however, he left his father's works to go to Burlington, lowa, where for three years he served as the superintendent of the Murry Iron Works, returning at the close of the period, in 1895, to Terre Haute and again entered the Eagle Iron Works. But on the first of the following year, 1896, Mr. Parker began contracting in steel structural work on his own account, and as his business grew in volume and importance from year to year, and in 1900 completed his own plant for the manufacture of structural iron and steel bridge material. Among the buildings of note which he has erected may be mentioned the following: The Columbia Enameling and Stamping Works, Terre Haute; the Highland Iron and Steel Plant, and all of the gas house plants of this city; the Commercial and Merchants' Distillery plants, the Grand Opera House block, all of this city ; the Iowa University building, at Ames, lowa ; the Illinois University
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auditorium, the library building at the Indiana University, the Herze building, of Terre Haute, and the Terre Haute Trust Company's building.
Mr. Parker married Miss Electa, the daughter of B. F. McKeen, of Terre Haute, and they have one daughter, Julia. Mr. Parker is president of the Young Business Men's Club, of Terre Haute, and has, during the past eight years, served as president of the Independent Field Trial .Club, the leading organization of its kind in the United States. He is a member of the Country Club, the Masons. Elks, Knights of Pythias, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and also of Indiana Division, Sons of the American Revolution. He also has membership relations with the National Association of Stationary Engineers and of the Mechanical Engineers' Association of the United States. He is a Repub- lican and has been very active, though he has never sought office. He is ex-city chairman, and now county chairman, also ex-president of the board of public safety.
JEROME W. PERRY, the present city clerk of Terre Haute, has resided in that city nearly his entire life, and his long career as a conservator both of private and public trusts has made a continuous record of faith- fulness and ability. He received his educational training in the city schools and the Commercial College of Terre Haute, and commenced his business career as cashier in a large barber shop. Following this, he was identified with several firms in various clerical capacities, and in 1888 became clerk and time keeper for the Terre Haute Car and Manufactur- ing Company. In 1893 the concern named went into the hands of the receiver and later in the same year the plant was destroyed by fire. Mr. Perry then secured the position of bookkeeper for a contracting firm, and in 1896 returned to the car works, remaining with the re-organized business until his appointment to the United States revenue service in 1898. During his connection of three years and four months with the revenue department he made his headquarters at Terre Haute, and after leaving the service was engaged for some time in auditing the books of the city treasurer, clerk and board of public works. He was again called to a position of responsibility with the car works, remaining in that capacity until June 1, 1906, when he resigned to assume the duties of city clerk of Terre Haute, to which office he had been elected.
Although Mr. Perry has passed his life in Terre Haute since he was about five years of age, he was born in Chariton, Iowa, on the 9th of May, 1867, being the son of Thomas L. and Elizabeth (Cochran) Perry. His parents were both natives of Delaware county, Ohio. Early in the history of the Buckeye state, the Cochran family was established in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the great-grandfather of Mrs. Perry
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migrating from that locality to Chillicothe. Ross county, Ohio, and after- ward to Columbus and Delaware county, that state. He served in the war of 1812, and when he established his homestead on the west bank of the Scioto river, nine miles northwest of Delaware, the Indians swarmed around as thick as bees. His wife, formerly Elizabeth Wilson, was also a native of Westmoreland county. Pennsylvania, and this sturdy and honored pioneer couple are both buried in the Boles Creek cemetery. near Warrensburg. Their son, James W. Cochran, Jr., was born in Chillicothe. Ohio, on the 9th of October. 1811, and soon after the Civil war removed from his Ohio farm to a tract of land near Decatur, Iowa. He had married Margaret Swartz, daughter of Sebastian and Elizabeth (Moberly) Swartz, Ohio pioneers, and both the maternal grandparents died on their Iowa homestead. Thus both the Cochran and Perry families are leaders in the early agricultural development of Ohio and Iowa. The great-grandfather of our subject, Robert Perry, emigrated from Wales to America in 1802. and as a youth of seventeen located in Delaware county, Ohio. He was born December 16, 1785. and his wife, Sarah ( nee Hoskins) on the 14th of November. 1788. The paternal grand- parents were William and Rebecca E. (Lavenser) Perry, whose son Thomas L. Perry (the father of our subject) was born on the 18th of August, 1838. The latter enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for service in the war of the Rebellion. and at the close of the conflict settled in Iowa, where the wife and mother died June 20, 1869, two years after the birth of Jerome W. The deceased was born November 11, 1891, daughter of, James W., Jr., and Margaret (Swartz) Cochran. In 1871 the husband came to Terre Haute and became identified with the old nail works of that city. In 1887 he returned to the old Perry homestead in Ohio and there engaged in farming until his death, February 3. 1892. His second wife, Mary (nee Atkinson ). survived him and is still living. He was buried in the Thompson cemetery near Radnor, Delaware county. This fine old farm has remained in the possession of some member of the Perry family ever since it was granted by the government. Jerome W. Perry married Elizabeth Asperger. born in Riley. Vigo county, January 28. 1868, to Godfrey and Katherine Asperger, both natives of Germany. The two children of this union are Myrtle C., born October 16, 1901, and Frederick J., born on the 10th of November, 1903. Mr. Perry is a charter member of the Blinn Camp. Sons of Veterans, and in view of his father's commendable service in the Civil war has always taken an active part in the support and development of the fraternity.
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CHARLES E. McKEEN, energetic and determined, has as salient qual- ities in his makeup those characteristics which enable him to overcome dif- ficulties and obstacles in a business career, and as president of the Co- lumbia Laundry Company he is now at the head of one of Terre Haute's paying enterprises. Born in Illinois, his natal place was Martinsville, and the date of his birth September 20. 1865. His father. Dr. Benjamin Franklin McKeen, was a native of Indiana, born. on Shaker's Prairie, near Oaktown, in Knox county, October 4. 1827. He was the son of William and Nancy ( Latshaw ) McKeen, the former born in Lewis county, Kentucky, June 5, 1798, and the latter in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of November, 1805. They were both of Scotch- Irish descent, the ancestors coming to America in early colonial days. Charles E. McKeen traces his descent in direct line from Thomas Mc- Kean, of Revolutionary fame, although the spelling of the name has undergone a change since that time. William McKeen and two brothers were early settlers of Shaker Prairie, in Knox county, Indiana. The McKeen brothers were farming people, but were also skilled in handling tools and machinery. They bore their full share in the work of early development there at a time when Indians still lived in the state and utilized their old hunting grounds in search of game. Most of the homes were log cabins heated by fireplaces and lighted by tallow candles. After devoting the early portion of his residence here to general agricultural pursuits William McKeen, the grandfather, moved from Shaker Prairie with his family to Walnut Prairie, Illinois, and subsequently took up his abode in the town of Marshall, that state, where both he and his wife spent their remaining days.
Benjamin F. McKeen, the father of our subject, was young when his parents moved to Illinois, and he was educated in the village of Mar- shall, where he attended the common schools and the academy. Deter- mining upon a professional career, he began reading medicine, while later, to further equip himself for his chosen calling, he attended Rush Medical College, at Chicago. When he was qualified for practice he opened an office at Martinsville and remained a member of the profes- sion for two years. He then withdrew from that field of activity, how- ever, and turned his attention to the milling business in Martinsville, where he remained until the fall of 1864, when he removed to Terre Haute. The following year he became a resident of Chicago and operated on the Board of Trade for two years. He then again came to Terre Haute and took a position as general purchasing agent with the Vandalia Railroad Com- pany, continuing in that capacity for many years. He wedded Miss Mary Cowles, who was born at Elyria, Ohio. December 19, 1840, a daughter of Erwin A. and Electa (Clark) Cowles, who were natives of Durham, New
Chas Ein Ken
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Founuutinns. 150g
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York, and Westfield, Massachusetts, respectively. Dr. McKeen died at his summer home at Burt Lake, Michigan, on the 13th of August, 1903. while his widow now resides at Terre Haute.
Charles E. McKeen came to this city with his parents in 1864 and largely acquired his education in the public schools here. His first work was in the train service for the Vandalia Railroad Company, which he en- tered at the age of nineteen years, continuing in business connections with that company for fifteen years, except for about two years (beginning in (881), when he entered the gents' furnishing goods business in Terre Haute. He sold this and returned to the railway business. He entered the laundry business at Logansport, Indiana, in 1894, and fifteen months later returned to Terre Haute, where he purchased a controlling interest in the Columbian Laundry. In October, 1895, the business was incorpo- rated under the name of the Columbian Laundry Company, with Mr. Mc- Keen as president and general manager. On the 3d of December, 1904, the present quarters of the Columbian Laundry on East Wabash avenue were completed and the building was put to its present use. It is one of the largest and finest laundry buildings in the state and the plant is one of the best equipped in this part of the middle west, not excepting any to be found in the largest cities. Mr. McKeen, as executive manager of the business, has made it a profitable enterprise, with an extensive pat- ronage, and in his undertakings is meeting with the success which he deserves.
In 1881 Mr. McKeen was united in marriage to Miss Margaret H. Wilson, a daughter of John D. Wilson, of Terre Haute, now deceased. Unto them was born one son, Frank W., whose birth occurred August 30, 1886, and who is now secretary of the Columbian Laundry Company. Mr. McKeen is recognized as a prominent representative of his line of business throughout the United States, and was three times elected pres- ident of the Indiana Laundryman's Association, serving in 1890, 1900 and 1901, while in 1904 he was chosen president of the National Laundry- men's Association. He is a member of the Commercial Club. and for the last three years has been chairman of its membership committee. He is also an active member of the Young Business Men's Club, and is deeply interested in all that pertains to the welfare and substantial upbuilding of the city. He is likewise connected with the various branches of Masonry. being a Knight Templar and a Shriner, and belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is pre-eminently an enterprising business man, alert and energetic, carrying forward to successful completion what- ever he undertakes. Personally his salient characteristics have made him popular, and his circle of friends is constantly increasing as the circle of his acquaintance widens.
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WILLARD KIDDER .- The name of Willard Kidder is closely identified with the early and subsequent history of Terre Haute, and he is one of the city's pioneer millers and business men. He is a native of Windham county, Vermont, born May 7. 1833, to Ashbell and Mary (Sprague) Kidder, both natives of Vermont, the former born on December 28. 1795. and the later on the 29th of July. 1806. Ashbell Kidder was a prosperous farmer for years in his native state and also in Illinois, to which state he had moved with his family in 1854. settling at Granville. Putnam county. He died August 27. 1866, and his widow survived him many years. dying on the 23d of July, 1894.
Willard Kidder spent the first fifteen years of his life on a farmi in Vermont. attending the common schools, the high school of Jamaica and the old Leland Seminary at Townsend. that state. With his education completed he went to work in a store at Newfane, the county seat of Windham county, and from there came west to Illinois with his parents in 1854. After their location in Putnam county the father purchased a farm and of which the son Willard had charge of its cultivation. Two years later this farm was sold and another of raw prairie pur- chased near Geneseo. Illinois, and this in turn was sold and land pur- chased at Mount Palestine, that state. In all the work of improving these different farms Willard Kidder had charge. acquiring at the same time an interest in the lands. Eventually leaving the farm he bought an interest in a flour mill and grain business at Geneseo, continuing the business there until his removal to Quincy. Michigan. in 1867, to become a mem- ber of the company of Alden, Sutton & Company, proprietors of a general store and a large plant for the manufacture of staves. bolts and coopers' stock. The mercantile branch was an exceptionally fine one for those days, and in connection with the store the company also conducted a bank- ing business. Mr. Kidder and Mr. Sutton attending to the store while the two other partners looked after the manufacturing part. The company also had stave works in different parts of Michigan, and that part of the business was very extensive and successful, but in 1875, Mr. Kidder disposed of his Michigan interests and came to Terre Haute and formed the firm of Kidder & Donmeyer. They purchased the flour milling property near the bridge on Wabash avenue and engaged in the manu- facture of flour. etc. This old mill was built originally for a brewery, but previous to 1875 had been remodeled into a flour mill. but the enterprise had not proved a success and at the time Mr. Kidder took hold of the property the grinding was done by stones and the capacity was less than one hundred barrels a day. In 1879 Mr. Kidder's brother, W. L., pur- chased Mr. Donmeyer's interest in the mill and the firm name became Kidder & Brothers, so continuing until in August, 1884, when Willard
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