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 24
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
AARON CONOVER .- The farm which Aaron Conover owns and oper- ates is one of the historic ones of Vigo county and is the site of the county's first fair grounds. It was used by the soldiers during the Civil war, and Mr. Conover can yet recall to mind when the soldier boys bunked in the stable of the fair grounds. A small frame building still standing near his barn was used by the commissary, and it has a number of times in recent years been photographed by the soldiers. The old canal which was in operation in the fifties also runs through this historic farm, and as a boy Aaron Conover rode a mule up and down its banks. In those early days he was well acquainted with a negro who, unable to swim, often performed the feat of crossing the canal by wading in and crawling on the bottom to the opposite shore.
Aaron Conover was born in Harrison township, July 10, 1852, a son of Ralph and Eleanor (Snedeker) Conover, both of whom were born in New Jersey, the father in 1811 and the mother in 1821. The husband passed away in death in 1888, and the mother in February, 1908. They were married in New Jersey, and in 1840 came to Indiana and cast their lot with the early residents of Terre Haute, where the husband and father followed his trade of a brick mason for many years and many of the older brick buildings of the city still stand as monuments of his handiwork. His first work here was on the Terre Haute House. He was a Republican and both he and his wife were members of the Baptist church. Their eleven children were Aaron (first), deceased; William also deceased ; Jane, the widow of William Merry; Harmon, deceased : Alfred, who resides on Seventh street, in Terre Haute; Daniel, deceased ; Aaron (second), of this review : Belle, deceased: Gertrude, the wife of William Mason, who also resides on Seventh street, in Terre Haute : Eliza, the widow of Scott Hovey, and Ralph, whose residence is on Third street, Terre Haute.
During his early life Aaron Conover learned the mason's trade of
680
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
his father, and after following it as an occupation for five years he turned his attention to farming and gardening, now owning an estate of one hundred and twenty acres in Harrison township. At one time he was quite extensively engaged in the breeding of registered Jersey cattle and Berkshire hogs, but in recent years has followed farming and garden- ing exclusively. As a Republican he has been active in the public affairs of his community, and for an extended period served in the office of supervisor, his first term extending from 1881 to 1889, and was re-elected in 1903 and again in 1905, his term expiring on the 10th of December, 1907.
Mr. Conover married, November 1. 1876, Nettie Metcalf, born at Paris, Illinois, in February 12, 1856. She was reared in her native city, and her parents dying when she was young, she came to Terre Haute, and it was here that her marriage occurred. Four children were born of the union, but the first boru, Carl, born August 21, 1877, is deceased. Earl, the second son, born February 1, 1879, is a graduate of the high school and a commercial college in this city and of the Medical College of Louisville, Kentucky, and is now practicing his profession in Evans- ville, this state, one of the city's most prominent physicians. Warren was born December 21, 1880, and died at the age of five years. Beulah, the youngest of the family, was born March 13, 1889, and for four years was a student in the Catholic school at Oldenburg, Indiana.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER THORNTON .- On the official record of Vigo county is recorded the name of William Alexander Thornton, who is now serving the township of Harrison as its trustee. He took the oath of office January 1. 1905, and his term will expire January 1. 1909. He has been prominently identified with the business and social interests of Vigo county since attaining the age of maturity, but he is a native son of Bloomington, Monroe county, Indiana, born December 17. 1856, to Joseph Alexander and Nancy ( Mercer ) Thornton, both of whom were born on a farm near Lexington, Kentucky, the father on the 13th of December, 1823, and the mother on the 2d of April, 1829. At the age of twelve years, James A. Thornton came with an uncle from Kentucky to Bloomington. Indiana, riding a horse the entire distance, and after remaining there for two years he rode on horseback to St. Louis, Missouri. In that city he learned the trade of a buggy-maker and remained there until he attained his eighteenth year, returning thence to Bloomington. In the meantime he had saved a little money, and on his return built with his own hands a three-room residence. In that little dwelling his marriage was celebrated and there his seven children were born and reared to
-
Mami C. Thornton
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Jonny and Til don Foursotions. 1969
681
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
lives of usefulness and honor and there too, he and his life companion celebrated their silver and golden wedding. It was from this little home which he had fashioned with his own hands that he was at last laid to rest, on the Ist of April, 1903, and there the wife and mother still resides. He worked in a carriage shop of his own until his life's labors were ended in death. Their seven children are: Dr. F. G. Thornton, a prominent physician of Brazil, Indiana, and he has also represented his county of Clay in the state legislature for two terms : George D., who for 'two terms served as the sheriff of Monroe county, Indiana ; Joseph D., the foreman of the Showers bedstead factory, in Bloomington, Indiana ; William A., of this review : Maggie Belle, the wife of Henry Munson, of Bloomington ; Jennie, the wife of Emery Stout, also of Bloomington ; Carrie, deceased, and one who died in infancy.
William A. Thornton spent the early years of his life in his native city of Bloomington and is a graduate of its high school with the class of 1874, one of his schoolmates having been Professor Albert Woodburn, now of the State University. It was in 1877 that he came to Terre Haute and assumed the position of foreman of the farm of Theodore Hullman, in Honey Creek township, and six years later became foreman of the Fouts & Hunter livery barn, in Terre Haute. After four years there he took charge of the Crawford Fairbanks stables, of Terre Haute, and remained there until he was elected township trustee. In the fall of 1904 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of trustee of Harrison township, Vigo county.' He is also a stockholder in the Ameri- can Trust Company, of Terre Haute.
On the 15th of November, 1880, Mr. Thornton was united in mar- riage to Minnie C. Ohm, who was born at Marshall, Illinois, in 1861, a daughter of Benjamin and Minnie C. Ohm, both now deceased. Mrs. Thornton received her education in the high school of Marshall and remained at home until her marriage. Three children have blessed the minion : Roscoe, born February 12, 1882, is married and is traveling for the Bell Hardware Company, with residence in Indianapolis ; Lillian C., born May 1, 1885, received a high school education with one year at the Butler University, in Indianapolis, and is at home, and Dorothy, born June 1, 1895, is attending school. Mr. Thornton is a Republican and a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, No. 51, the Knights of Pythias, No. 18, and the Junior Order of United Workmen. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
THEODORE F. BROWN, M. D., of Sandford, Vigo county. Indiana, was born in Butler county, Ohio, November 9, 1846, and is the oldest son of
682
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
Dr. Nathan S. and Nancy (Irwin) Brown, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. The parents were of German and Scotch descent. The father was a physician who came to Indiana in 1852, settling in Rossville, and thence (in 1862) locating at Sandford, where he practiced for a number of years. At the age of fifteen, while still a schoolboy, Theodore F. enlisted in the Seventieth Illinois Infantry, completed his three months' service and then re-enlisted in Company B, Sixth Indiana Cavalry, remaining at the front until the close of the war. He suffered all the hardships of a soldier's life, was engaged in a number of hard-fought battles, and was wounded and taken prisoner with General George Stoneman, while serving as a riding messenger for that officer near Macon, Georgia. He was held a prisoner for more than nine months, being most of the time confined in Andersonville, Georgia, and was released at Jacksonville, Florida, weighing but sixty-nine and a half pounds.
After returning home Dr. Brown re-entered school at Greencastle, Indiana, and thence went to Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1869; also from the Indiana Medical College in 1886. He is a member of the Indiana State Medical Association, the Mississippi Valley Medical Society, Aesculapian Society of Illinois, and of the Vigo County Medical Society. He began practicing at Sandford with his father, but soon afterward located at Rosedale, Parke county, Indiana, and in 1872 removed to Crawfordsville, where he remained until 1883. He then returned to Sandford, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice. For five years he served on the United States board of examining surgeons for pensions, and is now postmaster at Sandford. He was united in marriage at that place, May 16, 1867, to Miss Susan, daughter of Manuel and Caroline (Norton) Staley. Doctor and Mrs. Brown have two children-Glen C. and Elbert S., who are jewelers in the city of Terre Haute. The parents are members of the Methodist Episco- pal church, of which Doctor Brown has been a trustee for more than twenty years ; they were also identified with the Order of Eastern Star, the Doctor being a member of Sandford Lodge, No. 330, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and of Charles Cruft Post, Grand Army of the Republic. In politics he is a Roosevelt-Taft Republican.
JOHN BOND JOHNSON .- The town of Sandford numbers among its leading merchants and business men John Bond Johnson, a member of the firm of Shickel & Johnson, but Terre Haute claims him among her native sons, his birth occurring there on the IIth of December, 1841. His parents were Calvin and Mary (Bond) Johnson, the former born on
683
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
the 19th of November. 1809, and the latter in Olean Point, New York, July 7, 1815. The mother was a daughter of Major John Bond, who accompanied Colonel Webb and his family up the Wabash river to Fort Harrison. Calvin Johnson was of Scotch-Irish origin, and as a boy of seven he started with his parents from North Carolina to Indiana, but the mother died en route, and the little son was later bound out in Sullivan county and lived there until his marriage in the early thirties. In 1836 he moved to Terre Haute and worked at the carpenter's trade there until 1852, when he moved two miles north of Sandford on the Illinois side and bought one hundred and twenty-four acres of land. He later added twenty-five acres to the boundaries of that farm, and forty acres of the tract was on the Indiana side. After the death of his wife on the 22d of February, 1891, he left there and came to Sandford to reside with his son John, his death occurring here February 17, 1899. He was a Republican and his wife was a member of the Methodist church. She was of English descent. In their family were three children: Emeline, the widow of William H. Easom and a resident of Nebraska; John Bond, the subject of this review, and Cedelia, the widow of Angus Van Houtin and a resi- dent of Fayette township, near Libertyville.
In the district schools John Bond Johnson received his educational training, and was a classmate between the age of seven and ten years, of the editor of this work, C. C. Oakey, and they were the pupils of Benja- min Hayes, in Terre Haute. On the Ioth of August, 1861, he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of Company A, Seventh Illinois Cavalry, with which he served until October 19, 1864, and in the interim took part in the battles of Corinth, Coldwater, Iuka and Oxford, all of Mississippi, his services being principally in that state, and although his clothing was many times pierced with bullets he was never wounded. He now receives a pension of twelve dollars a month. After the close of the conflict Mr. Johnson returned to Vigo county and began farming one mile east of his father's home in Fayette township. During the winter of 1871-2 he went west, and about seventy-five miles west of Omaha, Nebraska, in Sanders county, he bought three hundred and sixty acres of railroad land, but sold two hundred acres of the tract, and the remaining one hundred and sixty he traded for a farm of eighty acres in Fayette township. He only went to Nebraska for the purpose of buying land, not intending to remain, and in addition to the eighty acre tract which he obtained from his trade he owns another tract of fifty acres. six lots in Sandford, and one of the prettiest homes of the town, enclosed with an evergreen hedge and surrounded with fine old pine trees. He became a resident of this city in 1879 and at once became identified with
684
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
its business life as a druggist and grocery merchant in partnership with James B. Shickel. The firm also own and operate the grain elevator here, and in the past they were extensively engaged in the sale of all kinds of farm implements.
Mr. Johnson married, November 2, 1865, Elizabeth Fuqua, born in Johnson county. Indiana, January 16, 1844, to David P. and Isabelle (Wilson) Fuqua. From their native commonwealth of Kentucky the parents emigrated to Johnson county, Indiana, and in an early day in its history came to Vigo county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have one son, Charles C. Johnson, who is now the shipping clerk for the Columbia Stamping Mill. at Terre Haute. He married Maud Staley, and is a member of the Methodist church.
LOUIS PHILLIP SEEBURGER, president of the board of commissioners of Vigo county, a prominent citizen of Terre Haute, and a leader of the state Democracy, was born in that city, on the present site of the Majestic distillery, June 2, 1855. He is the son of Louis and Caroline (Frey) Seeburger, both natives of Germany, the father born in Baden and the mother in Wurtemberg. They were married in Philadelphia. and in 1846 came to Terre Haute. The family homestead was first located at the corner of Second and Poplar streets. but about 1848 transferred to lot 72, which was purchased for the purpose. There the father died in 1876, being at the time a candidate for the legislature. In many respects he had been a prominent citizen. He served for four years in the city council, and in 1872 and 1874 was nominated for county commissioner and city treasurer respectively. After his death the widow removed to the corner of Seventh street and Washington avenue, where she now resides at the age of eighty-two years.
Louis P. Seeburger was reared in Terre Haute, and received his education in several of its well known schools of the early days. His initiation as a pupil was at the pay school kept by Mrs. Dildine, on South First street. This was followed by courses at the old seminary, another pay school, and at the Rose and Hook ( first ward) public schools. After completing his public school education, he finished his preparation for practical work by mastering a commercial course. In the meantime, however, he had obtained not a little experience which was to prove of value to him, for at the early age of six years he became a butcher's boy, and when ten years old bought his first cattle, paying seven cents per pound on the hoof. He continued in various departments of the meat business until 1882. This year was a turning point in his life in more ways than one.
685
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
On January 26, 1882, Mr. Seeburger was married to Miss Mary W. Noble, daughter of Charles T. and Elizabeth L. ( Herring ) Noble. The father was the first school teacher in Vigo county, and taught many of the boys who became leading business men. Following his marriage Mr. See- burger removed to his farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Honey Creek township, and in November, of that year, was appointed deputy sheriff under John Cleary. In January. 1883, he returned to the city, locating on the corner of Fifteenth and Chestnut streets, where he resided for eighteen years. After serving four years as deputy sheriff he became deputy under County Treasurer Cox. In 1887 he entered the United States revenue service under President Cleveland, and continued thus identified until 1889, when he resigned and formed a partnership with John McFall in the meat business. They continued to operate a profitable establishment on Fourth street between Main and Ohio streets, until Mr. Seeburger was nominated by the Democracy for the shrievalty, in 1894. Although he ran seven hundred votes ahead of his ticket, he was defeated, after which he formed a partnership with William Patton, and under the firm name of Seeburger & Patton, established a wholesale packing house at the abattoir. In 1896 he was nominated for sheriff by acclamation, and in this campaign carried the county by a majority of four hundred and forty eight. There was but one other man on the Democratic ticket elected. and an idea of Mr. Seeburger's strength may be gained when it is noted that McKinley carried the county for president by a majority of four hundred and sixty. In 1898 Mr. Seeburger was re-elected by a majority of seven hundred and eighty-eight. and in November, 1900, concluded his service as sheriff of Vigo county to the unbounded satisfaction of the public and his high personal credit. In 1899 he had bought a farm in Harrison township, three miles north of the court house and now within a short distance of the city limits, and since that year it has been his homestead. In 1906 he was elected county commissioner by a majority of one hundred and ninty-six, and in 1908 was chosen president of the board. His service in the interests of the county has been of such a useful and efficient character that he received the Democratic nomination for state senator by a majority of one thousand one hundred and ninety-eight, in May, 1908. He is a leading Mason. being a member of Humbolt Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, No. 42, chapter, council and consistory, and a Knight Templar. He is also connected with Occidental Lodge, No. 189. Knights of Pythias, and as a leading business man belongs to the Commercial Club, of Terre Haute. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seeburger, two of whom died in infancy and three are living-Edward, John and Louis.
.
686
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
JOHN WILLIAM BAUER was born in the fatherland of Germany, Sep- tember 21, 1852, a son of Christian and Johanna Bauer, both of whom were born and spent their entire lives in that country. The father followed the butcher's trade.
In his native land of Germany, in April, 1875, their son John was married to Laura Cadizer, born August 20, 1856, and in 1883, with his wife and four children, he came to the United States and on to Harrison township, Vigo county, Indiana, where he lived in different sections of the township until purchasing, in 1890, thirteen and a half acres of land, his present homestead. Here he has since become well and prominently known as a gardener, having followed that occupation ever since coming to the county, and he now has three cement hot houses, each twenty-five by eighty-five feet in dimensions. He wholesales the most of his garden vegetables to the merchants of Terre Haute, and built up a large and re- munerative trade, and he is also a stockholder in the People's Brewery, of Terre Haute. There are two residences on his farm. Mr. Bauer affil- iates politically with the Democracy, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity. Previous to coming to this country he served three years in the German army.
Mr. and Mrs. Bauer have become the parents of the following chil- dren, namely: Emma, the wife of Mathew Link, of Harrison township, and they have four children : Fred William, who is married, has four children, and lives in Harrison township: Christian, who is married and is also a resident of this township; Louise, the wife of Robert Bockner, and they have one child: Theodore, who is married and resides with his father ; Frederick, engaged in business with his brother Theodore ; Freda, and two who died in infancy. The four eldest children were born in Ger- many, and all the sons are now engaged in gardening in Harrison town- ship. The family are members of the German Lutheran church.
JAMES HUBERT EVANS .- Harrison township numbers among its most prominent agriculturists James H. Evans, a member of one of Vigo county's best known and highly esteemed pioneer families. His birth oc- curred in its township of Otter Creek, April 29, 1854, born to Bazil and Malinda (Strange) Evans, both of whom were of Scotch parentage. Bazil Evans was born in Virginia, in 1813, and died in Otter Creek town- ship. Vigo county, in March, 1862. He came with his father, Joseph Evans, to this county in an early day in its history, locating in the town- ship of Otter Creek, and there they both spent the remainder of their use- ful lives and now lie buried in the family cemetery on the Evans estate.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. 1909
Jours July Elroy B. Swith
687
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
The land is owned by Mr. Evans' sister Sarah, the wife of Robert Black. Agriculture continued as the life occupation of Bazil Evans, and he became one of the most successful farmers of Vigo county in his time, owning at the time of his death between four and five hundred acres He was a Republican and for several years served his township of Otter Creek as a trustee. Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist church. Mrs. Evans was born in Parke county, Indiana, December 19, 1822, and died on the Ist of February, 1895.
In the community in which he was born James Hubert Evans grew to manhood's estate and received his educational training. Remaining with his widowed mother until reaching the age of twenty-one, he pur- chased and began farming a quarter section of land in Otter Creek township, which he operated for eighteen years and then sold, although he still continued to live there for several years, finally removing to Lost Creek township, and five years later came to Harrison township, locating on the Jacob Jackson farm, and in the spring of 1908 located on the Mariah Jackson farm, Fruit Ridge avenue, near Maple avenue, about four miles from the court house. He farmed both the Jacob Jackson and Mariah Jackson farms. For several years during his residence in Otter Creek township he served in the office of trustee, and he is a Repub- lican politically.
By his marriage in 1875, to Clara Phillips, Mr. Evans united two of Vigo county's most honored pioneer families. Mrs. Evans was born November 16, 1854, in Otter Creek township, where her parents, Aquilla and Matilda (Simmons) Phillips, long resided, but both have long since passed away. They were married in Maryland and from that common- wealth journeyed to Vigo county, Indiana, and cast their lot with the early residents of Otter Creek township, and in time became numbered among the most prominent residents there. The husband and father up- held the principles of Democracy and was a slaveholder in the south. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Evans: Nora A, at home ; Theodore Clifford, who married Rosamond Crabb, and they reside in Otter Creek township; Linnie Belle and Mattie May, at home; Grace Fay, attending the State Normal, and twins who died in infancy. The family are members of the Methodist church.
ELROY B. SMITH, who has resided within the borders of Vigo county since he was two years of age, has proven a strong force in its agricul- tural and civic development throughout the entire period of his ma- ture life. Otter Creek township is especially indebted to him for its prosperity and high standing. His father, James M. Smith, was a sturdy
688
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
pioneer farmer of this section, who, in 1864, moved with his family from Knox county to Vigo county, first residing in Harrison township for seven years. During the succeeding fifteen years he farmed in Otter Creek township and from that time until his death his homestead was in Harrison township. The father was born in New Albany, Indiana, on the 16th of April. 1831, and died on the 19th of February, 1891, passing away as a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a life-long Republican, casting his first vote for John C. Fremont. Mrs. James M. Smith bore the maiden name of Helen A. Potter, and was born three miles north of Vincennes, Indiana, on the 23d of October, 1833. The place of her birth is still known as the Potter farm. It was in Knox county that she married Mr. Smith, and to their union was born a family of seven children, of whom the following survive: Alice, wife of John Chadwick, of Vincennes, Indiana ; Ross, who married James Perkins, of South Bend, that state; Elroy B., of this sketch, the fourth in order of birth, and Charles W. Smith, of Ellsworth, Indiana. The widow also resides at the last named city, being a venerable and honored pioneer mother in the seventy-fifth year of her age.
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.