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 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
Denver City Tramway Company, but one year later returned to the home farm and in the following spring came to Terre Haute to enter upon his association with the Baker Medicine and Extract Company, of Keokuk, Iowa, as a salesman. This was in the year of 1893, and the business was not at that time in a very flourishing condition in Vigo county, but he has increased the trade of his territory until it requires the services of a second salesman. He carries a full line of family medicines, extracts, spices and other commodities, and has been very successful as a sales- man. In 1903 Mr. Dorsey purchased ten acres of land on Lafayette avenue and Eighteenth street, in Harrison township, three-quarters of a mile north of the city corporation, and in 1907 completed the erection thereon of a fine modern frame residence, two-story and basement and containing eight rooms. It is modern and complete in all its appointments and is one of the pleasant homes of the community. He is a stock- holder in the Riley Oil Company, of Vigo county.
On the 15th of December, 1895, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dorsey and Emma Engle. She was born near Rosedale, in Vigo county. June 25, 1875. a daughter of William S. and Caroline Engle. The father is deceased, but the mother resides on the old homestead near Rose- dale. Three children have been born to this union, Vern, born April 19, 1900; Paul, born October 19, 1902, and Joy, born February 3, 1905. Mr. Dorsey upholds the principles of the Democratic party, and has men- bership relations with the Blue Lodge of the Masonic Order in Terre Haute ; the Encampment No. 307, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; the Maccabees ; and the Ancient United Order of Workmen. He and his wife are members and active workers of the Second United Brethren church of Terre Haute.
JOIIN C. MYER .- Harrison township, Vigo county, numbers among its most prominent farmers and business men John C. Myer, the owner of one of the best improved farms in the county." It is located in section I, and consists of a quarter section in Harrison township and a quarter section in Lost Creek township, while in addition he also owns eight hundred acres in North Dakota, principally grazing land. He is a self- made man in the truest sense of the word. for in his early youth he began to battle for himself, alone and unaided, and his valuable property is but the merited reward for industry, economy and excellent business ability.
John C. Myer was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, January 21, 1828, to Karl Frederick and Margaret Myer, both of whom were born and died in the fatherland. They gave to their son John, one of their thirteen children, an excellent educational training in his native land and early in
671
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
life he became identified with agricultural pursuits. He also served five years in the German army, and in 1852 emigrated to America and located first in Ohio, from whence, in 1856, he removed to Vigo county, Indiana, and three years later purchased the nucleus of his present homestead. He first bought a quarter section of wild and unimproved land, the purchase price being ten thousand dollars, and the little log cabin which he first erected continued as his home for a number of years but finally gave place to the commodious and elegant brick residence, and a large and sub- stantial barn and other outbuildings have also been built. The place is beautifully ornamented with shade trees and flowers. Mr. Myer is a practical and progressive farmer and a natural mechanic, and he was also at one time quite extensively engaged in the raising of registered shorthorn cattle.
In Ohio, on the 2d of July, 1852. Mr. Myer married Christena Blum, also a native of Germany, born January 6, 1833, and she came to America on the same ship with her future husband, but it was not until after they had arrived in Cincinnati that they became acquainted and they were there married. Nine children have been born to them, namely : Charles, who, at his death, left two children, William and Charles, both machinists with the Vandalia Railroad Company and residents of Terre Haute ; William P., of Indianapolis: Louisa, the wife of D. Porter, of Terre Haute ; George, in Arkansas ; John Albert, who owns a half section of land in Harrison township, but he farms his father's land : Otto C., who resides in Washington ; Caroline W., the wife of Adolph Mason, of Terre Haute ; Wilhelmina, the wife of George Koffman, of the state of New York: and Herman J., engaged in the dairy business in Harrison town- ship. Mr. Myer also has fourteen grandchildren. The family are members of the German Lutheran church. Mr. Myer is a Republican in his political affiliations, and for several years he held the office of road supervisor, and to him belongs the credit of building many of the roads in this part of the township. Ile has filled all the offices in the local lodge of the Odd Fellows fraternity, and has attained prominence as a Knight Templar Mason and as a member of the consistory. He has also con- ducted many Masonic funerals.
HERMAN J. MYER .- For many years Herman J. Myer was promi- nently associated with the milk business in Terre Haute, his dairy being known as the 1. X. L., but recently he disposed of his business and is now devoting his entire time to his agricultural pursuits. He is a son of one of the county's best known and most prominent citizens, John C. Myer. whose history appears preceding this sketch, and was born in section
672
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
I. Harrison township, February 12, 1867. On his father's farm he grew to manhood's estate and was prepared for life's future activities, and he remained with his father and worked with him on the homestead farm until he had reached his twenty-sixth year. He then rented land near Terre Haute for one year, and at the close of that period bought forty acres in section 1, just across the road from his boyhood's home, and here he has ever since remained. His first year here was spent as a general farmer, but following this, in 1896, he opened a dairy and milked on an average of twenty head of cows. During eleven consecutive years he conducted a retail milk wagon in Terre Haute, in that time building up a large and lucrative trade, and in fact was accorded the best retail milk trade in the city. Assisted by his estimable wife he performed nearly all the work connected with the dairy, aerated and bottled all his milk and operated a steam plant in connection with the dairy. But in 1907 Mr. Myer sold his cattle. In 1902 he suffered a heavy loss from a fire which completely destroyed a fine new dairy barn, forty by eighty feet in dimensions, a brick dairy house, twenty by twenty feet, with a fourteen foot shed extending the entire length of the house, and a resi- dence which he was at that time remodeling. The loss was estimated at five thousand dollars, covered with but one thousand dollars insurance. He was obliged to begin anew and replace his buildings, which left him very much in debt, but his perseverance and excellent ability have again placed him in the front ranks.
Mr. Mver married, February 28. 1893. Bertha R. Maurer, who was born in Clark county, Illinois, March 30. 1873. a daughter of Andrew and Susan (Schweitzer) Maurer. The father was a native son of Germany, born April 21, 1842, and when a boy of fourteen he came alone to the United States and located in Marshall, Illinois. When nineteen years of age he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of Company F. Seventy-ninth Illinois Infantry, in which he served for three years, and during the last three months of the war was held as a prisoner. With the pay he received as a soldier, he brought to this country, his mother, step-father, a brother and sister. After returning from the war he located in Clark county and bought the Sweitzer estate. there remaining until his death on the 16th of January, 1905. He became a very successful farmer and stock raiser, and at the time of his death owned three hundred and sixty acres of land in Oklahoma, in addition to his valuable estate of five hundred acres in Clark county, the homestead being still owned by his heirs. He was a Republican and served in the office of supervisor, and was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the fraternal order of Red Men. Mrs. Maurer was born in Clark
673
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
county, Illinois, December 25, 1840, and died in 1878. after becoming the mother of six children: Benjamin C., a resident of Clark county : Jacob Henry, also of that county ; Agnes, the wife of William Davison, of Clark county : Bertha R., the wife of Mr. Myer; John P., deceased. and William Herman, of Seattle. Washington. Mrs. Myer received an excellent educational training in the public schools of White and Clark counties, Illinois, and also attended for a time the public schools of Carmi. that state. Her mother was a successful educator during her younger days and her maternal grandfather was a prominent and well known minister. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Myer, namely : Carl Frederick, who died in infancy; Wallace Andrew, born March 14. 1897, and May Christine and Paul Christine, twins. born January 28. 1899, but the little son died when but five days old. Both Mr. and Mrs. Myer are members of the Methodist church, and she is also a member of the King's Daughters.
WILLIAM M. HOSIER has been identified with the interests of Vigo county throughout his entire life, and he is now living on the old home- stead farm in Harrison township, on which he was born November 14. 1867. and which is endeared to him through its association with his boy- hood days. His parents. Jacob J. and Susan (Marshall ) Hosier, were both natives of Montgomery county, Ohio, the father born November 10. 1832, and the mother December 26. 1833. There they were also mar- ried January 17. 1867. and coming direct to. Harrison township, Vigo county, the young couple purchased sixty-five acres of land, on which they lived and labored during the remainder of their long and useful lives, the mother dying in July, 1894, and the father on the 8th of November. 1904. Mr. Hosier was a life-long farmer and was an inde- pendent political voter. In their family were two children, the younger being Frank M., who was born October 26. 1870.
William M. Hosier, the first born, started out at the age of sixteen to see something of the world, and for two and one-half years he journeyed from place to place, visiting many different states in his wanderings and working at various occupations. Returning thence to Harrison township he has devoted his life's activities to farming and is now the owner of the old Hosier homestead. He is a Democrat politically and has served as a member of the county council for one term, and his fraternal relations connect him with the Knights of Pythias, the Red Men and the Modern Woodmen of America, and he is also a member of the Young Men's Club.
On the 17th of January. 1880, Mr. Hosier wedded Rose Grathwohl,
43
674
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
who was born and educated in Harrison township, her natal day being the 17th of July, 1869. They have two children, William, Jr., born March 25, 1892, and Samuel, born March 26, 1897. Mrs. Hosier is a member of the Methodist church.
JOHN J. SMITH .- On the 8th of September, 1906, there passed from this life one of Vigo county's most prominent pioneer residents, John J. Smith. He lived and labored among its citizens for many years, and his well spent life commended him to the confidence and esteem of all, and in his death Terre Haute lost one of its most successful business men and grocery merchants.
Mr. Smith was born in the fatherland of Germany, a son of Chris- topher and Christena Smith, but was only three months old when brought by his parents to America, the family spending their first four years in this country in Louisville, Kentucky, from whence they came to Terre Haute and the father engaged in gardening and fruit raising. He thus continued until his death in December, 1876. In his native land he served in the German army. To his son John he gave the benefit of a public school education in Terre Haute, he attending the old seminary, which school was on the site of the Normal School, and among his schoolmates were many of the well known citizens and business men of the present. The son remained with his father and assisted him in his gardening until he had attained his twenty-seventh year. It was at that early age that he entered upon his career as a grocery merchant in this city, on the corner of Fifth and Van streets, and for eleven consecutive years he continued as one of the most successful grocery merchants of Terre Haute. During that time he also purchased and built up what is now known as the John J. Smith addition, and also purchased a tract of forty acres where his family yet reside. He also bought several houses and lots in the city of Terre Haute which are yet owned by his widow. On retiring from the grocery business Mr. Smith moved to his forty acre farm on Seventh street to become a fruit and vegetable farmer, and in time his increasing business required the erection of two hot houses, and two more have been built since his death. He was a Democrat politically.
On the 28th of February, 1873, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Marie Katherine Setzer, who was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, March 27. 1852, to John and Marie ( Volmer) Setzer. The parents were natives of Wittenburg, Germany, but came to America in their early lives and were married in Pittsburg, from whence four years later they journeyed to Clark county, Illinois. The father became a very successful
- THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. 150g
Marshalls Lee
675
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
farmer and stock raiser there, and died in 1894, his widow passing away in death two years later, in Terre Haute. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith. William, the eldest, was born March 17, 1875. He is a graduate of the high school and Isabelle Commercial College, of Terre Haute, and since leaving the school room he has worked in the county abstract office for thirteen years. He also supports the principles of Democracy. Lulu was born December 19, 1877, and is a graduate of the Terre Haute high school with the class of 1895. She educated her- self in instrumental music, and during the past six years has been a suc- cessful teacher of the piano in this city. Frederick William, born October 15, 1879, attended the high school and commercial colleges of this city and is now a gardener on the home farm. Catherine, born September 15, 1881, is the wife of Dr. O. L. Baldridge, of Bridgeton, Parke county, Indiana. She is also a graduate of the Terre Haute high school. Augusta, born August 22, 1883, is a member of the high school alumni and is now a teacher of china painting. She is also an artist in water colors, and has many fine pieces of her own work in both china and water colors, and has twice been awarded premiums at the Vigo County Fair. Charles. born October 16, 1885, is at home and assists in the work of gardening. Charlotte, born January 1, 1888, is a graduate of the city high school and is also at home. Mrs. Smith and her family are members of the German Lutheran church on Poplar street. She resides in one of the pleasant homes of Terre Haute, a large white brick building built by Jacob Early, on Seventh street. It stands in a beautiful walnut grove just outside of the corporation limits on the east side of the north and south road, a continuation of Seventh street.
MARSHALL GRAY LEE, of Terre Haute, is one of the leaders of the Indiana coal industries and one of the most extensive owners of real estate in Vigo county. He is a native of Clark county, Illinois, born on the 9th of November, 1857, being the son of Isaac and Mary (Davis) Lee. The family is of Scotch stock, but settled in London in early historical times, and certain members of it are located in Pennsylvania in the colonial era of the United States. Gen. Robert E. Lee was of the same family. Isaac Lee's grandmother was Mary Boone, a cousin of the famous Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. The immediate ancestors of Marshall G. Lee were Pennsylvania Quakers, his father being a native of Reading and his mother, of Lebanon. In 1839 the parents migrated from the Keystone state to Clark county, Illinois, where Isaac Lee established him- self as the founder of the pioneer grist mill in that section of the state. He seems to have been a versatile mechanic, for his regular trade was
676
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
that of a scythe-maker and he long operated a forge in Pennsylvania. The town of Farrington, Illinois, is located on what was the original Lee homestead of Clark county. In 1866 the family located at Liggett, on the Vandalia Railroad, four miles west of Terre Haute, and there the mother died in 1875. at the age of sixty-two years, the father following her in 1881, seventy-four years old.
Marshall G. Lee spent the early years of his boyhood in his native Illinois county, where his father eventually became a large owner of land and a prosperous citizen. The son was reared amid comfortable surroundings and received a thorough and broad education. His earlier training was obtained in the common schools, and after a course at the State Normal he taught school for two years. He then entered DePauw University, from which he graduated in 1884 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and two years later was honored with Master of Arts.
With the advantage of this liberal education, Mr. Lee engaged in business in Terre Haute. He has since demonstrated, in many ways, the practical advantages of a university education, his case of bearing. his breadth of view and the facility with which he enters into large enterprises and develops them along clearly defined lines, evincing a well trained mind and a rounded character. Of late years Mr. Lee has devoted his special attention to the handling of coal lands. He is the treasurer of the Sugar Creek Coal Company, and of the Marshall Vein Coal Company, and also a director in several of the largest coal concerns in the state. It is stated that he now owns more farm land in Vigo county than any other one man of the past or present.
Mr. Lee has also been largely instrumental in the beautifying of va- rious residence districts of the city as well as maintaining them at a high standard of improvements and morality. In many parts of Terre Haute may be seen rows of neat, comfortable cottages, owned by those of modest circumstances who accord their substantial station in life to the efforts and influence of Mr. Lee. He has also taken a deep and active interest in several of the subdivisions of the city, Strawberry Hill being one in whose upbuilding he has been especially prominent. This is one of the most beautiful sections of Terre Haute, and its development has been so regulated by those interested in it that it is in every way a desirable resi- dence district for cultured and moral families. From the first property own- ers have been restricted to those who would bind themselves to erect residences not less than two stories in height, and groceries and saloons were strictly excluded. The result is that Strawberry Hill is uniformly attractive. as well as desirable from a moral point of view. In the rare development of this enterprise Mr. Lee has had a large part, and has
677
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
superintended the progress of the attractive subdivision around Collett Park. Altogether, he is a leader in the movement tending to make Terre Haute one of the most attractive and desirable residence cities of the middle west.
On the 5th of August, 1885, Mr. Lee was united in marriage with Miss Alma Blanchard, daughter of John D. and Vesta Blanchard. Her grandfather, Jonathan Noyes, was born in Abbington, near Boston, Mas- sachusetts, and was related to several old and well known families of the Hub. Mrs. Lee herself, is a native of Newport, Vermilion county, Indiana, and her only child, Blanche, died in infancy. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lee are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the former keeping green his memory of old college days through his membership in Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and the Terre Haute Literary Club.
ARTHUR E. COLVIN has been identified with the interests of Vigo county throughout his entire business career, and now is serving as assessor of Harrison township, having taken the oath of office on the Ist of January, 1900. He was elected on the Republican ticket. Mr. Colvin was born at Merom, in Sullivan county, Indiana, March 15, 1866, a son of Squire and Nancy Ann ( Hurst) Colvin, the former of whom was born in Kentucky, in 1823, and the latter was born in Vigo county, Indiana. They were married in Merom, this state, where Squire Colvin passed away in death in 1888, but the wife and mother survived until 1898. dying in Terre Haute. He was a general merchant in Merom, and in politics was a Democrat. Of their large family of eight children only two are now living, Arthur E. and his brother Lewis, the latter a resident of Merom.
Arthur E. Colvin received an excellent educational training in his youth, first attending the public schools of Merom, later the Union Chris- tian College, at the same place, and subsequently was a student in the old Garwin Business College, now known as the Brown Business College. Previous to entering college, however, and when a boy of sixteen he clerked for one year at Prairieton, Indiana, and after spending the following year on a farm in Sullivan county he came to Terre Haute. After leaving the Commercial College he was with the Wabash Lumber Company as a foreman of one of their mills for about seven years, and following this was for a time in the grocery business with W. S. McCoy. on North Eighth street, in Terre Haute. From the grocery he trans- ferred his activities to the feed business, and was thus engaged until his election, in 1899, to the office of township assessor. He assumed the duties of this position January 1, 1900, and will be a candidate on the
678
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
Republican ticket for the same office in the coming election. He is a member of the Maccabees, the Odd Fellows and the Blue Lodge of the Masonic Order.
On the 17th of September, 1890, Mr. Colvin was united in marriage to Nellie Messick, who was born in Kentucky, but was reared and educated in Terre Haute, where her parents had moved during her infancy. Their three children are Reba, Gladys and Lorena. Mr. and Mrs. Colvin are members of the First Baptist church.
LEONARD H. MAHAN, well known gardener and fruit grower of Harrison township, was born in Clay county, Indiana, just across the line from Vigo county, October 9, 1839, a son of William H. and Mary M. (Davis) Mahan. The father was born in Butler county, Ohio, March 16, 1816, and the mother was born in Warren county, of that state, in 1815. They were also married in that commonwealth, and in 1838 came to Vigo county and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Lost Creek township, adjoining the Clay county line, and with the exception of about a year's residence in the last named county he continued as one of Vigo's successful agriculturists until his busy and useful life was ended in death. He subsequently sold his farm in Lost Creek township in the seventies to remove to Terre Haute, but later bought land near that city and until his death lived on a ten acre tract on the corner of Twenty-fifth and Wabash avenue, where the Orphans' Home now stands. Both he and his wife were Universalists in their religious belief. Five of their children grew to mature years, namely : Sarah Ann, the widow of Silas Price ; James P., deceased ; Leonard H., whose name introduces this review ; Mary Elizabeth, deceased, and Erula A.
The boyhood days of Leonard H. Mahan were spent on his father's farm, and for two years he attended DePauw University, pursuing a scientific course, and he thereafter taught district school for a year. From that time until his enlistment for the war, on August 15, 1861, he operated his father's farm, and after returning from the conflict, in 1865, he continued its cultivation for a year or two longer and then began the raising of vegetables and fruit, and since that time he has been engaged in greenhouse and storage business.
The marriage of Mr. Mahan was celebrated on the 8th of February, 1876, when Lydia M. Hardy became his wife. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. December 23, 1847, a daughter of Patrick H. and Ann S. (Davis) Hardy, natives respectively of Ireland and Ohio. They were married in Cincinnati, and continued to reside in different parts of Ohio until their daughter Lydia was about seventeen years old, the family then
679
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
moving to Terre Haute and Mrs. Mahan attended the high school. Later the parents purchased a home in Hartford City, Indiana, and moved there, but after the death of her husband, in 1875, Mrs. Hardy came to the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mahan, and died here in 1905. During a period of nine years Mrs. Mahan was a successful educator, teaching for a time in the city schools of Terre Haute and near Greencastle, and one year in northern Indiana. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mahan one was still born, and the other, Edward R., was born in April, 1880, and attended the high school and the business college of Terre Haute, and is associated with his father as a gardener.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.