USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 14
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Mr. Everett is a Democrat politically and has been loyal to the party. He was elected township trustee of Perry township in 1908, and has served continuously ever since, giving eminent satisfaction to all concerned. Fra- ternally, he is a member of Lodge No. 839, Independent Order of Odd Fel-
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lows; and Lodge No. 429, Improved Order of Red Men, both at Fayette, Indiana.
To Mr. and Mrs. Everett the following children were born: John A., who lives in Perry township; Vina Schenck, wife of Isaac Schenck, of Hendricks county ; Elma is the wife of Roy Smith, of Center township; Will- iam S. lives in Perry township; Lester is at home; Emma is also with her parents; Cora A., the sixth child in order of birth, died when four years of age.
HARVEY W. HUBER.
The people who constitute the bone and sinew of this country are not those who are unstable and unsettled; who fly from this occupation to that, who take no active and intelligent interest in affairs affecting public utilities, schools, churches and good roads. The backbone of this country is made up of the families who have made their home, who are alive to the best inter- ests of the community in which they reside, who are so honest that it is no trouble for their neighbors to know it, who attend to their own business and are too busy to meddle in that of others; who work on steadily from day to day, taking the sunshine with the storm and who rear a fine family to a com- fortable home and an honest life. Such people are always welcome in any community and any country. They are wealth producers, and this county is blessed with many of them among which is that of Harvey W. Huber, well-known farmer of Sugar Creek township, where he has spent his entire life, having enjoyed the privilege of living on the old home place all the while, which he no doubt regards, as he should, as one of life's chief blessings, for as John Howard Payne well observed, "There is no place like home."
Mr. Huber was born in Sugar Creek township, Boone county, July 16, 1857. He is a son of Valentine and Amelia (Kashner) Huber, natives of Ohio. The paternal grandparents, William and Elizabeth ( Hefler) Huber, were natives of Germany, and the maternal grandparents, Abraham and Betsey (Abernathy) Kashner, were natives of Pennsylvania. The latter family came to Montgomery county, Indiana in 1830 and entered land from the government.
Valentine Huber grew to manhood in Ohio and was educated and mar-
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ried there, and in 1853 he came to Boone county, Indiana, and bought a farm of ninety-four acres in Sugar Creek township. His first wife died in 1854, without issue. In December, 1855, he married Amelia Kashner, mother of our subject. The elder Huber was a good farmer and prospered and he kept adding to his original farm here until he owned at the time of his death, February 8. 1889, one hundred and thirty-seven acres of valuable land. His second wife preceded him to the grave in February, 1888. Har- vey W. Huber, of this sketch, was their only child. He grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education in the district schools. He remained with his parents during their life, and upon their death he inherited the homestead and here he has remained, carefully managing the same and keeping it well improved and under a fine state of cultivation. By close application and good management he has prospered and added to his original holdings until he is now owner of three hundred and eighty-eight acres, constituting one of the most valuable and most desirable farms in the town- ship, on which he carries on general farming and stock raising on an exten- sive scale. He has a pleasant home in the midst of attractive surroundings, and has kept the buildings all well repaired.
Mr. Huber was married December 26, 1882 to Mary Elizabeth Titus, who was born in Washington township, Boone county, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of Samuel and Jane (Wilkins) Titus, both natives of Indiana, the father of Boone county, where he became a well-known citizen.
Stephen Titus, father of Samuel Titus came from Pennsylvania in 1831 and entered one hundred and sixty acres in Washington township; then walked back to Pennsylvania and returned with his family. His wife's name was Nancy ( Barton) Titus of Pennsylvania. Both lived to a ripe old age. Samuel Titus was married in 1855 to Jane Wilkins:
The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Huber : Urban W. lives in Washington township; Beulah is the wife of Carl Riner and they live in Jefferson township; Verva, Ernest, John Titus, Amelia Jane, and Nathan Kashner, are all at home.
Politically, Mr. Huber is a Democrat, religiously a Presbyterian, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, both of Thorntown.
Mr. Huber is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has ac-
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complished. He was born in a two-story log house, with a fire-place both below and above. In 1867 his father built a story and a half brick house and the log house was torn down. His present modern thirteen-roomed house was built in 1901. It has all the modern improvements and is one of the most comfortable and well furnished homes in the county. He also has a splendid bank barn, forty-two by fifty-eight feet, with twenty foot posts, which barn was erected in the fall of 1895 but not entirely completed until the following year. It is up-to-date in every respect, with cement floors and is sanitary and comfortable, both a general and dairy barn, and he keeps twenty good dairy cows. All his land is used in his superb system of twentieth century agriculture. All his land lies in a rich bottom with the exception of seventy acres of upland. It is, on the whole, one of the show places in Boone county, and is named the Hidaway Farm. Mr. Huber is a breeder and preserver of the original big type spotted Poland China hogs and was one of the promoters in the organization of the American spotted Poland China Record Company which was organized at Indianapolis January I, 1914.
HARVEY MARION LAFOLLETTE.
The record of a life well spent, of triumph over obstacles, of persever- ance under difficulties and steady advancement from a modest beginning to a place of honor and credit in the community, when imprinted on the pages of history, present to the youth of the rising generation an example worthy of emulation and one that may be studied with profit by those of more ma- ture years. Dominated by the highest principles of integrity was the course of Harvey Marion LaFollette, one of the useful citizens of Boone county in its early period of development, who has long been sleeping "in God's quiet acre where we all shall meet," but whose influence on the locality of which this volume treats, shall never vanish. He placed true values on men and events, so that he was essentially democratic and unassuming and showed the intrinsic strength and loyalty of his character. He knew the spirit of human motive and action, so that he was kind and tolerant in his judg- ment and ever ready to lend a helping hand to any worthy movement. He was imbued with the deepest and most helpful public-spirit, and he was well
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fortified in his opinions as to matters of public policy and gave of his best to the furthering of good government, as he was neglectful of no civic duty. It is scarcely necessary to say that in the inviolable precincts of an ideal home life the true nobility of Mr. LaFollette found perfect apotheosis, but there is no desire in this connection to lift the sacred veil of the fireside circle. Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the moral tenement of the subject of this memoir, his character and Christian faith being fortified by careful study ; for no man with his intellectual vigor and the love of truth which marked him, could live long without inevitably being brought to investigate the great moral laws governing life. In fact, he was a strong man in every respect and was successful in all he undertook.
Mr. Lafollette was born in Putnam county, Indiana, April 16, 1832. He was a son of Jesse and Mary (Lee) LaFollette, both natives of New Jersey, from which state they emigrated with their parents in childhood to Kentucky and later to Indiana in an early day, locating in Putnam county where they established themselves on a farm in the northern part of that county, in typical pioneer fashion. The death of the father occurred in 1843 after which the mother moved to Montgomery county, this state, where her death occurred in 1851.
Harvey M. LaFollette grew to manhood in Putnam and Montgomery counties, Indiana, and received his education in the old time subscription schools, and began life for himself as a stock-trader, being from early experi- ence, an excellent judge of live stock. On December 22, 1853, he married Susan C. Fullenwider, who was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, De- cember 10, 1835 and there grew to womanhood and was educated in the common schools. She is a daughter of Christopher and Sarah (Van Nuys) Fullenwider, natives of Kentucky, the father being of Swiss descent and the mother of Hollandish extraction. The parents of Mrs. LaFollette came to Montgomery county, Indiana, about 1833, among the early settlers. They located on a farm which they developed by hard work and perseverance. There the death of the mother occurred in 1855 and Mr. Fullenwider mar- ried again and removed to the state of Iowa where his death occurred about 1862.
After his marriage the subject of this memoir took up his residence in Dane county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming from 1854 to 1860. In October of the latter year he moved to Thorntown, in Sugar Creek town-
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ship, Boone county, Indiana and bought property in Thorntown, launching out in the dry-goods and hardware business with his brothers Warren and Robert. Later he operated a large flour mill upon Sugar creek near Thorn- town, until his death by accident while taking a new turbine to his mill, the team of horses frightened at the train and running away, throwing him against a schoolhouse, so that he died from his injuries September 4, 1865, over three months after the accident occurred. He was one of the success- ful business men of this locality of that early day, and his death was a blow to the community. Mrs. LaFollette has continued to reside in Thorntown, where she owns one of the most attractive, commodious and neatly furnished residences in Boone county. The city of LaFollette, Tennessee was named for a son and namesake of our subject. This son, Harvey M., served as State Superintendent of Public Instruction for Indiana, by popular election, from 1887 to 1891.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. LaFollette: Clara is the wife of George W. Nash and they live in Spokane, Washington; Charles S. has been in railroad employment for more than thirty years, lives in Chicago, Illinois; Harvey M. lives in La Follette, Tennessee; William Leroy lives in Pullman, Washington, being a prominent politician in that state and at present a member of congress from the Third District; Grant A. lies at LaFollette, Tennessee; two children are deceased, Warren Jasper, who was third in order of birth, died at the age of thirty-two years, and Robert Winchester died in infancy. United States Senator, Robert M. La- Follette, of Wisconsin, is a nephew of our subject.
Politically, Mr. LaFollette was a Republican and was active and in- fluential in public affairs. He held a number of township offices when he lived in Wisconsin, was elected justice of the peace there, also served as chair- man of the board of supervisors. Fraternally, he belonged to the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Belleville, Wisconsin. He was reared in the faith of the Baptist church from which he never departed. Mrs. La- Follette is a devout member of the Presbyterian church, and she holds mem- bership in the Rebekah lodge. She is a well-preserved lady, having the ap- pearance of one much younger than she is. She is well-read, cultured and refined and she numbers her friends by the limits of her acquaintance only, and her beautiful home is known as a place of hospitality and good cheer.
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BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
JOSEPH ARDRA McGEE, M. D.
The writer of biography, dealing with the personal history of men en- gaged in various affairs of every-day life, occasionally finds a subject whose record commands exceptional interest and admiration and especially is this true when he has achieved more than ordinary success or made his influence felt as a leader of thought and a benefactor of his kind. Dr. Joseph Ardra McGee, of Big Springs, Boone county, is eminently of that class who earn the indisputable right to rank in the van of the army of progressive men, and by reason of a long and strenuous career devoted to the good of his fellows, to the alleviation of their physical sufferings, he occupies a position of wide influence and has made a name which will long live in the hearts and affec- tions of the people. For over thirty years, or through the principal period of Boone county's latter day progress, he has been practicing medicine here and his name has become a household word throughout the county.
Dr. McGee was born in Decatur county, Indiana. December 28, 1850 .. He is a son of John and Mary (Youngman) McGee, the former a native of Virginia and the mother was born in Pennsylvania, in which state they were married. John McGee learned the trade of wagon making when a young man which he followed in the early days. He came to Decatur county, Indi- .ana where he devoted his days to farm work and his evenings to his trade. In 1851 he removed to Tipton county where he bought a farm on which he made all his own improvements, erecting substantial buildings, and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in the fall of 1862, his widow surviving until the fall of 1881. They were the parents of nine children, four of whom are living at this writing, namely: Catherine, now the widow of Joseph Cooper, of Tipton county : Dr. Joseph A., of this review; Sarah is the widow of Sylvester Cox, of Tipton, Indiana; Maturity is the wife of Thomas Jordan, of Tipton county.
Dr. McGee was reared on the home farm and there he did his full share of the work during the summer, and he received his early education in the common schools of Tipton county. He remained at home until his marriage in March, 1868, to Alice Jackson, a native of Shelby county. Indiana, where she was reared and educated. To this union one son was born, Jesse Elbert. who died in infancy. The wife and mother was called to her eternal rest in October, 1869. After his marriage Dr. McGee engaged in farming in
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Tipton county, also in the wood and coal business in Kokomo for one year, also devoted a few months to the drug business. He came to Adams town- ship, Hamilton county, Indiana, in 1874, where he bought land and remained there until the fall of 1881. Although he had been successful as a business man up to this time, he decided that his true bent lay along other lines and he accordingly began the study of medicine and entered the Physio Medical College of Indiana at Indianapolis, remaining there two terms, graduating in the spring of 1883. In the meantime he began practice in the spring of 1882 at Big Springs, where he had located. having made an excellent record at college. He had however, studied medicine some time previously to going to medical college. He has remained continuously to the present time at Big Springs since 1882, and he has built up a large and lucrative practice as a general physician and surgeon. He has remained a close student and has kept well abreast of the times.
Doctor McGee was married November 10, 1874 to Hannah Maranda Jones, who was born in Washington township, Hamilton county, and she received a good education in the common schools. She is a daughter of William P. and Minerva J. (Rariden) Jones, he born March 8, 1826, she May 30, 1824, both natives of Rush county, Indiana, and a highly respected family. The father was a pioneer of Boone county, Indiana, having come here about 1848. He was a member of the Legislature in 1852-53. He was a minister of the Primitive Baptist church from 1872 until his death, which occurred April 26, 1901, the mother passing away two years later, September 20, 1903.
The paternal grandparents were Benjamin and Hannah (Snelling) Jones, both natives of Kentucky, where they grew to maturity and were mar- ried, and from there they moved to Rush county, Indiana in 1822, where Mr. Jones entered land from the government, which was heavily timbered, but he set to work with a will and cleared and improved one hundred and sixty acres of good land. This he farmed until 1848 when he sold out and the following year moved to Marion township, Boone county, where he bought a partly improved farm. Here he prospered and added to his original pur- chase until he had a valuable place consisting of four hundred acres, and there he and his wife spent the rest of their lives becoming known through their industry and fine personal traits as leading citizens of the township.
To the Doctor and wife one child has been born, Zella May, born on
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November 2, 1877, now the wife of Jesse C. Dulin, and they live in Marion township, this county.
Dr. McGee is a Democrat politically and is loyal in his support of the party's principles. He is a member of the Primitive Baptist church, in which he has been trustee for thirty-seven years. The father of his first wife also his last wife were ministers in the Primitive Baptist church. Per- sonally, Doctor McGee is a gentleman of fine mind, lofty ideas and correct conduct, a kind, neighborly and sociable gentleman who is popular with all classes.
VASCO DODSON.
It is one of the beauties of our government that it acknowledges no hereditary rank or title-no patent of nobility save that of nature's, leaving every man to establish his own rank by becoming the artificer of his own fortune. Places of honor and trust, rank and preferment thus happily placed before every individual, high or low, rich or poor, to be striven for by all, but earned alone by perseverance and sterling worth are most always sure to be filled with deserving men, or at least by those possessing the energy and talent essential to success in contests where public position is the prize. Vasco Dodson, the present efficient and popular prosecuting attorney of Boone, county, affords a conspicuous example of the successful self-made American who is not only eminently deserving of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens, but also possesses the necessary energy and talent that fit him to discharge worthily the duties of the responsible place with which he has been honored by the people of his county. A young man of vigorous mentality and strong moral fiber, he is achieving signal success in a calling in which few rise above mediocrity, and since entering the service of the public he finds those same qualities the chief factors in the carving out of a career that is above the suspicion of reproach and an honor to the county which he so ably and acceptably serves.
Mr. Dodson was born September 24, 1888 on a farm in Union town- ship, Boone county. He is a son of William H. and Malinda ( Harvey) Dod- son, both parents natives of this county also, each representing sterling pioneer families. Here they grew to maturity, attended the rural district
VASCO DODSON
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schools and were married and have since devoted themselves to general agri- cultural pursuits. So their son Vasco, grew up on the farm and when of proper age began to assist his father in the general work during the crop season. During the winter, he attended the public schools, being a boy when the family removed to near the city of Lebanon and he continued his studies in the city schools. After graduating from the Lebanon Business College he began life for himself by teaching two years in the shorthand department of that school and he gave satisfaction in this responsible position. Fostering a laudable ambition to follow the legal profession he began reading law about this time, under the direction of Patrick H. Dutch, of Lebanon, later giving up his position with the business college in order to devote his time exclusively to the law, and after completing the necessary course he was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1909 and at once began practice in partnership with his preceptors, Mr. Dutch, which partnership continued with success from the beginning until Mr. Dodson was elected prosecuting attorney of Boone county in the fall of 1912. He took charge of the office January 1, 1913, for a term of two years. He has discharged the duties of the same with fidelity and energy, in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of his constituents, being alert in enforcing the laws and doing his full part in bringing about a more wholesome state of affairs in various ways. He has shown himself to be capable of handling the weighty affairs of his office with discretion, sound judgment and tact, and by a career so able and honorable while still at an age when most men are merely starting on their careers, the future for him augurs much of success and honor .. He practices both in the state and federal courts, and is an able and trustworthy attorney in every respect and already ranks among the leaders of the local bar.
Politically, Mr. Dodson is a Democrat and is faithful in his support of the party, doing much for the success of the same locally. He is a meniber of the State Bar Association, and fraternally belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Dodson was married September 4, 1913, to Mabel Price, a daughter of David C. Price, formerly of Illinois, now an enterprising citizen of Boone county. Mrs. Dodson has received good educational advantages and she and our subject are popular with the best social circles of Lebanon.
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PRESLEY NEWBY.
There is a vice in much of the publicity given to agriculture that should be eliminated. It is true, isolated cases of ignorance and indolence exist, but these instances are always the exception in any community, and the per- centage of delinquents is no greater than in any other line of industry. Men who are unable to make their way in the highways of trade move from the cities to the farm and perish for want of adaptability. Agricultural mission- aries, sometimes inclined to be sensational, startle the public with reports of thrilling rescues made from the furrors of ignorance. To encourage our boys we sometimes give them the garden spot of the farm and give it first preference in cultivation. The result is a larger yield, and it is heralded to the world that the child can beat his father farming. Those who are in- clined to be eccentric practice fancy farming, and enthusiasts announce the discovery of visionary methods of culture that will revolutionize farming, and these instances could be multiplied indefinitely. One of the successful and painstaking farmers of Boone county who advocate conservative yet practical methods in agriculture is Presley Newby, of Marion township.
Mr. Newby was born in Tipton county, Indiana, October 21, 1856. He is a son of Granville and Abigail (Barnhill) Newby. the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of Marion county, Indiana. Grandfather Ed- ward Newby was a native of Kentucky. The maternal grandparents were Robert and Mary J. (Stoops) Barnhill. After their marriage the parents of our subject settled in Tipton county, Indiana. The father was a practicing physician and about 1855 he gave up practicing medicine and began farming which he followed until his death in 1889, his widow surviving until Febru- ary, 1908. They were the parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters.
Presley Newby, sixth child in order of birth, was reared on the home farm where he worked when a boy, and he received his education in the dis- trict schools.
Mr. Newby was married January 6, 1884 to Lillie M. Lamm, who was born in Delaware county, Indiana, and is a daughter of William and Harriet (Vanness) Lamm, natives of Ohio. Mr. Newby remained on his father's farm a year after his marriage, then went to Cheyenne county. Nebraska. taking up a homestead, one hundred and sixty acres, on the prairie,
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which he broke and improved about sixty acres. Returning to Indiana in 1891 he located on a farm in Tipton county and farmed there one year, then moved about a mile north of that farm, remaining on the latter place two years, then rented a farm about six miles north of Sheridan in Tipton county which he operated six years, after which he moved to Hamilton county, locating near Horton, renting land one year. In February, 1901, he bought ninety acres in Marion township, section 13, which was partly im- proved. In November, 1912, he purchased forty acres adjoining the ninety acres on the south making one hundred and thirty acres altogether. Here he still resides and has made many important improvements on the place, remodeling the house, barn and erecting outbuildings and fences, until he now has a farm equal to any its size in the neighborhood. He carries on general farming and pays particular attention to stock raising, making a specialty of Holstein cows, Duroc-Jersey hogs and a good grade of horses.
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