USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 25
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Six children were born to Henry C. Brush and wife, named as follows : Mrs. Ada M. Stonecipher, who lives in Lebanon; Laura died when six years old; Otto T. died when seven years of age; Dr. Forest G., of this sketch; Jewel died in infancy; and Mrs. Eva L. Cox, of Danville, Illinois. The father, Henry C. Bruslı, owns valuable real estate in Lebanon, including a handsome residence, also a valuable farm near that city. He is known for his integrity, honest dealings and public-spirit, and his wife, who has been a true helpmeet, is a woman of refined tastes and many praiseworthy char- acteristics.
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Dr. Forest G. Brush was reared in Lebanon where he received his edu- cation in the public and high schools. He entered the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis in 1899, where he made an excellent record and from which he was graduated with honors in 1901, ranking among the first in his class. Soon thereafter he returned to Boone county and located for practice in Zionsville where he has since remained, enjoying a large, lucrative and ever- increasing practice, many of his patrons coming from remote parts of the country. He has a neat and modernly equipped office where high-grade work is promptly and satisfactorily done, the latest and most approved methods being employed. Politically, Dr. Brush is a Republican and fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythias.
Dr. Brush was married November 22, 1903, to Lynn Belle Richardson, a native of Hamilton county, this state, and a daughter of W. J. and Sarah E. (Walker) Richardson. The father was born December 7, 1855, and is a son of George and Margaret Richardson, the former born in 1830, and the latter in 1833. Mrs. Sarah E. Richardson was born in Clay county, Indi- ana, February 14, 1861, and is a daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann Walker. The latter was born January 24, 1824. She first married David Walker and after his death she married his brother Thomas Walker, who was born June 4, 1815. To this last union two children were born, Thomas and Sarah E. The latter married W. J. Richardson in 1881, and six children were born to them, named as follows: Edward, born March 21, 1882, married Lulu Barnes; Lynn Belle, born March 16, 1884, is the wife of Dr. Brush of this sketch; Josephine May, born February 16, 1886, married O. B. Harvey, a well-to-do farmer, and they have one son, Beeson Harvey; George, born March 26, 1888, married Lulu Davidson; William Clark, born September 6, 1890, who has remained single, is practicing dentistry at Francesville, Pulaski county, Indiana ; Ruth, born November 20, 1892, died January 14, 1894.
To Dr. Brush and wife one child has been born, Richard Clayson Brush, whose birth occurred September 20, 1905. He is an exceptionally promising lad, is a favorite among his little companions, is another Eddie Foy, has a remarkably plastic mind, and can quote quite extensively from the Bible. Our subject and wife are pleasant people to meet, genial, refined, well read and obliging; they are popular with the best circles of Zionsville, and have made a host of friends throughout the southern part of the county since locating here.
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WILLIAM EVANS WHITTINGHILL.
It is the pride of the inhabitants of this country that when the titanic struggle between the states closed in 1865 all the vast army of citizen sol- diery quietly laid down their arms and returned to the pursuits of peace. It was predicted by the governments of Europe, not only that the country would be divided, but that after the war an enormous army would be kept up and a military dictatorship would be established perhaps, on the frag- ments of every state. Foreign nations did not understand the spirit of the people of this country, that is the spirit of the people in all the free states. They could not understand how we could come to love the name of liberty and be willing to sacrifice so much blood and treasure to save a country founded upon the rock of freedom. In view of these misguided ideas the most of the foreign nations stood ready to pounce upon the fragments when the smoke of war had rolled away. But they saw a splendid sight. They saw the great armies melt away, saw a reunited country in which liberty was a fact as well as a name, and saw the soldiers return to their farms, work-shops, mills and various other vocations. One of this number was William Evans Whittinghill, a gallant defender of the Union, who has long been an honored citizen of Boone county, where he has engaged in various pursuits with success and aided in many ways in the general upbuilding of the locality.
Mr. Whittinghill was born August 9, 1849. in Mercer county, Kentucky. He is a son of Robertson and Lucretia ( Salee) Whittinghill. The father was born in the same county and state, June 14. 1814, and was a son of George and Mary (Gabhart) Whittinghill. The former was a native of Holland, from which country he emigrated to America when a young man, located in Kentucky in pioneer days and there became a large land owner, also owned land in Virginia and Indiana. He was a millwright by trade. and two mills which he built on Salt river, Mercer county, Kentucky are still standing. His wife was a native of Scotland. Robertson Whittinghill was reared in the Blue Grass state, and he devoted his life successfully to milling and farming, becoming owner of nearly one hundred acres of land. . He was one of the extensive hemp growers of his country. He was opposed to negro slavery, was a Whig, later a Republican in politics, and in religion
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a Baptist. He was a man of much business ability and was highly respected for his industry, honesty and hospitality. His death occurred November 29, 1891. He and Lucretia Salee were married February 20, 1834. She was born June 30, 1816, in Mercer county, Kentucky, and was a daughter of Shateen and Elizabeth (Burns) Salee, pioneers of Kentucky. Her death occurred November 3, 1909, at an advanced age, after a useful and model Christian life.
William E. Whittinghill was reared on the parental acres which he worked when a boy, and he attended the common schools in his native com- munity, remaining on the farm in Mercer county, Kentucky until 1861, when, on March 27th of that memorable year he enlisted in Company B, Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, in which he saw much hard service. He was in the battle of Mills Springs, Bowling Fork, and fought from Nash- ville to Chattanooga, was in the great battles of Chickamauga and Mission- ary Ridge, also Ringgold, after which the entire regiment was given a thirty days' furlough to Louisville, Kentucky. Then he re-enlisted in January, 1864, in the same company and regiment, mounted. They joined Sherman at Kenesaw Mountain, and was in numerous engagements around there. On July 29, 1864, the regiment made a raid in the rear of the Confederate army and was captured, only a few escaping. Our subject was sent to Anderson- ville prison where he remained four months and thirteen days, enduring the cruelty, hunger and general horrors which he says are indescribable. While there he contracted a disease from which he has never recovered. He was a mere skeleton upon his release. But nothing daunted he rejoined his regi- ment near Nashville, and fought in that battle, in fact, took part in all the engagements of the regiment in the second Atlanta campaign, which termi- nated at Macon, Georgia, in May, 1865. He was with the troops that cap- tured Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, near the city of Macon when he attempted to pass through the Union lines. Our subject was mus- tered out August 20, 1865, being honorably discharged at Louisville, ten days later. He soon thereafter returned to his father's farm in Mercer county, Kentucky, where he worked until September, 1868, when he came to Johnson county, Indiana, locating on a farm one mile northeast of Frank- lin where he remained two years then went to Clay county, Kansas, thence to Monroe county, Missouri, where he engaged in the cattle business for two years, then came back to Indiana and located in Scott county where he
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engaged in the dry-goods business, also handled groceries, until 1880, then began the milling business at Scottsburg. In 1889 he moved to Boone county, locating on a farm of one hundred and ninety-three acres, seven miles southwest of Lebanon, and although he now lives in the county-seat he still manages this finely improved and valuable farm. He also owns one hundred and thirty-five acres in Hendricks county. He left the farm and moved to his pleasant home in Lebanon in 1900. He has been very success- ful in all his business ventures and is one of the substantial men of Boone county and an excellent citizen in every respect.
Mr. Whittinghill was married November 30, 1875, to Luira V. War- dell, who was born in Scott county, Indiana, August 9, 1858, and there grew to womanhood and was educated, being a daughter of a highly respected old family of that locality. To our subject and wife four children have been born, namely: Ota E., who is engaged in the newspaper business at Red- key, Jay county ; Harry R. is farming in Hendricks county ; Hazel F. is at home; and Ira M. is the wife of C. Roark, of Lebanon.
Politically, Mr. Whittinghill is a staunch Republican, and religiously he is a member of the Central Christian church. He belongs to Rich Moun- tain Post, No. 42, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past com- mander. He is a member of Celestial Lodge No. 525, Free and Accepted Masons, at Whitestown; also is a member of Ben Adhem Lodge No. 472 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is past grand of the local lodge.
JACOB SHEPLAR COBB.
It will always be a mark of distinction to have served the Union during the great war between the states. The old soldier will receive attention no matter where he goes if he will but make himself known. And when he passes away, as so many of them are now doing, friends will pay him suit- able eulogy for the heroic sacrifices he made a half century ago on the sanguinary fields of battle in the Southland, or in the no less dreaded prison, fever camp or hospital. And ever afterward his descendants will revere his memory and take pride in recounting his services to his country in its hour of peril. One of the most eligible citizens for specific mention in a history of Boone county is Jacob Sheplar Cobb, for many years one of our leading
JACOB S. COBB
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farmers and school teachers, who, having accumulated valuable property and an ample competency to insure his old age from want, is now spending his time in retirement in his cozy home in the city of Lebanon. He is de- serving of our attention here partly because he is one of the old soldiers who went forth in that great crisis in the sixties to assist in saving the nation from disunion and treason, and partly because he has been one of our hon- orable and public-spirited citizens for a number of decades, a plain, honest gentleman who has sought to do his duty in all the relations of life as he has seen and understood the right.
Mr. Cobb was born near Cadiz, Harrison county, Ohio, August 25, 1841. He is a son of William and Mary (Copeland) Cobb. The father was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, in December, 1809, and was a son of William and Catherine (Strawsbaugh) Cobb. William Cobb was born in England, and was a ship-builder by trade. After emigrating to America he taught school for a number of years, also engaged in farming. William Cobb, Jr., was a carpenter and farmer and he moved with his parents to Harrison county, Ohio, in 1813, being thus among the early settlers there. He continued to follow his trade until his death in 1877, and was a highly skilled workman. Politically, he was a Democrat, was justice of the peace in Ohio for twelve years, and in religious matters he was a Methodist. In 1853 he came to Boone county, Indiana, and purchased two hundred and forty acres, and be- came a leading farmer here. He also served eight years as justice of the peace here, and was an influential man in his community. He and Mary (Cope- land) were married near Cadiz, Ohio. She was born in Harrison county, Ohio, October 10, 1816, and her death occurred in Boone county, Indiana, November 17, 1872.
Jacob S. Cobb grew to manhood on the home farm and there worked hard when a boy. He received a common school education, and after the war spent two years as a student in the Thorntown Academy, being a pupil under Prof. John C. Ridpath, the famous historian.
Mr. Cobb enlisted August 10. 1861 in Company A, Tenth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry and saw considerable hard service and proved to be a gallant soldier for the government. He was in the following engagements: Mill's Springs, Pittsburg Landing, siege of Corinth, Perrysville, Salt River, Hoover's Gap. He was then taken from his company and made drum major of the regiment's band. He had charge of twenty-two men, and during a battle he (53)
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and his men assisted in caring for the wounded. He remained with the regi- ment, and participated in seventeen hard-fought battles, being honorably dis- charged as drum major, September 20, 1864.
Returning home Mr. Cobb attended school awhile then began teaching which profession he followed with much success for a period of thirteen years, during which his services were in great demand, for he was a man of pro- gressive methods and an able instructor. He bought forty acres of land in Boone county which he cleared and improved, adding to same until he had ninety-three acres, which he operated with gratifying results. He recently sold his farm and now lives in his home in Lebanon, also owns considerable other valuable city property which he rents.
Mr. Cobb was married September 30, 1869 to Ella Lowe, who was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, October 18, 1844. She proved to be a faithful and sympathetic helpmeet, and, like our subject, numbers her friends by the scores. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cobb, all still living but one, namely: Frank A., a blacksmith of Washington township; Florence is the wife of Lon Barnes, a farmer of Center township; John E. is deceased ; James E. is a farmer of Washington township; Nellie is the wife of George I. Bienfang, of New York City; Fred is at home; Mary is the wife of J. H. Beldon, of Buffalo, New York; Verner J. is at home.
Politically, Mr. Cobb is a Democrat and has long been active in political matters. He served as sheriff of Boone county in an able and highly ac- ceptable manner for two years, 1885-86. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Order, and he belongs to Rich Mountain Post, No. 42, Grand Army of the Republic of which he is now adjutant.
HON. JOHN MAXWELL COWAN.
One of the most representative members of the bar in Boone county and western Indiana for many years following the Civil war period and one of the men whose name is eminently entitled to a conspicuous place in the history of this county is Hon. John Maxwell Cowan, which venerable and distinguished citizen is now living in Springfield, Missouri, Heaven having bounteously lengthened out his life until he has attained his ninety-
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third year. Peculiar interest attaches to his record for the readers of this work in view of the fact that he is the oldest living graduate of Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana, and had the distinction of attending the seventieth commencement exercises of this institution. His life has been spent in activities that seemed to exercise to the full his somewhat varied and unusual abilities; a life that has carried with it the lesson that one whose capacity, while not of the very greatest, may yet do great work by close devotion to the task. He was a busy, industrious man up to an old
HON. JOHN M. COWAN. -Daily Reporter.
age, and he attained a place of high degree and compelling importance in the various localities in which he has resided. One of the kind that make up the front rank, the kind that can be relied on, a good workman in the world's affairs, a splendid specimen of the many that do the real, hard work of the world in places of passing importance and do it well, the kind of life of which the warp and woof of the substance that goes to make up the con- tinuous achievement of humanity is made, the kind that deserves more recog- nition than it gets.
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Mr. Cowan was born on December 6, 1821, at Indianapolis. His par- ents were John and Anna (Maxwell) Cowan, both of Scotch-Irish lineage. His father was a Virginian by birth, and at an early age migrated to Ten- nessee, locating in the Shawnee valley, where he resided for a period of twenty years, and where a large number of descendants still reside. He sub- sequently came to Kentucky, and thence to Charlestown in the locality then called Territory of Indiana. When the "Prophet's War" broke out, he joined the forces commanded by Gen. William Henry Harrison, as a volun- teer and remained in service through the entire campaign, being engaged in the memorable battle of Tippecanoe. After this battle, he served two years as a dragoon scout, until the hostilities between the Wabash tribes and whites were finally settled. Returning home to Charlestown he made preparations and removed to Indianapolis, of which city he was one of the first settlers. In the autumn of 1822 he removed to Montgomery county, settling on a tract two and a half miles southwest of Crawfordsville on Oldfield's creek, where he engaged in farming. The son was left fatherless when he was about eleven years old and the family estate having been tied up for many years by an unfortunate loan made by the administrator, the mother and boy were compelled to struggle with the severest adversity. He thus as- sumed the burdens of life while yet in childhood, and bore them unflinch- ingly and without complaint until the wheel of fortune returned a reward.
John M. Cowan entered the preparatory school of Wabash College in 1836 with a determination to obtain a thorough education if nothing else should ever be secured, and after six years he was graduated from the classi- cal course with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon following his gradua- tion he received an appointment as deputy clerk of Clinton county, and re- moved to Frankfort. There snatching fragments of time from the toils of his office, he began the study of law, and in a few years was enabled to at- tend the law school connected with the University of Indiana at Blooming- ton, where he was placed under the instruction of Hon. David McDonald, afterward judge of the United States district court of Indiana. Graduating in the spring of 1845, at the end of one year, he returned to Frankfort and engaged in the active duties of his chosen profession, and he soon had an excellent start.
In 1845 Mr. Cowan married Harriet D. Janney, a descendant of a prom- inent Quaker family of Virginia, whose paternal ancestors were the Porters
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of Pennsylvania and whose maternal ancestors were the Ruples and Judahs of Basle, Switzerland. After his marriage, Mr. Cowan formed a partner- ship with Hon. James F. Suit, at Frankfort. Mr. Suit was one of the most distinguished advocates of western Indiana, and his talents being supple- mented by the energy and studious habits of his partner, their business rap- idly became lucrative, and this was one of the best known law firms in this section of the state.
In 1858, Mr. Cowan was nominated for the judgeship in the eighth judicial circuit, composed of the counties of Boone, Clinton, Montgomery. Parke, Vermilion, Fountain and Warren. His competitor was an experi- enced and able jurist, at the time on the bench of the circuit, and the politi- cal complexion of the counties composing the judicial field was decidedly hostile to his being retired; notwithstanding which, Mr. Cowan's personal popularity, and reputation as a lawyer, gave him the election by a large ma- jority. The term for which he was elected was six years, which was rounded up with the severest and most exacting mental labor. At the ex- piration of the term he stood so high in popular esteem that he was unani- mously renominated by his party and again elected for a similar term with- out any real opposition from the opposite party. Completing his labors upon the bench in 1870, he returned to the practice of law at Crawfords- ville where he had removed his family in 1864, forming a partnership with Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, later United States senator from Colorado. At the end of a prosperous connection of two years he became associated with Hon. M. D. White, and his second son, James E. Cowan, in a new legal firm, which continued nearly three years, when he finally retired from prac- tice and connected himself with the First National Bank of Crawfordsville, as assistant cashier, and attorney for the bank, which positions he held until 1881, when he removed to Springfield, Missouri, where he has since resided.
As is usual with the descendants of Scotch progenitors, Judge Cowan with his family are adherents of the Presbyterian church.
To the judge and wife, four children were born, all still living, and with his youngest son and widowed daughter, Judge Cowan is residing in Springfield, Missouri, his wife having been called to her eternal rest in the summer of 1905.
Judge Cowan's long and toilsome life produced a competency with which to spend his later years in comfort. Notwithstanding his advanced
.
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years he is in comparatively good health, and he writes a beautiful hand and his conversation and writings are seldom equaled by men forty years younger. In person, the judge is of medium height, slender build, of nervous, sanguine temperament, erect carriage and figure, with an air of modest dignity. His disposition is genial and he delights to meet his friends for whom as well as his family, he has strong affection.
SAMUEL HAWORTH.
The biographer is glad to herein set forth the salient facts in the life history of the well remembered and highly esteemed citizen whose name ap- pears above, the last chapter of whose record has been closed by the hand of death, and the seal set thereon forever, but whose influence still pervades the lives of those who were closely associated with him. For many years Mr. Haworth was identified with the growth of Boone county and his name is therefore worthy of special mention in these pages. The final causes which shape the fortunes of individual men and the destinies of nations are often the same. They are usually remote and obscure, their influence wholly unex- pected until declared by results. When they inspire men to the exercise of courage, enterprise, self-denial and call into play the higher moral elements, such causes lead to the planting of great states and great peoples. That nation is the greatest which produces the greatest and most manly men. Such a result may not be consciously contemplated by the individuals instrumental in their production. Pursuing each his personal good by exalted means, they worked out this as a logical conclusion, for they wrought along the lines of the greatest good. Thus it is that the safety of the state of Indiana has ever depended not so much upon methods and measures as upon that manhood from whose deep sources all that is precious and permanent in life must at last proceed. These facts were early recognized by the late Samuel Haworth, and the salient points marked his career, for those who knew him well could not but help noticing his many manly attributes of head and heart and ap- preciating his efforts to inspire good citizenship and right living, in both private and public life, and, because of these many commendable character- istics he won and retained the confidence and good will of all who knew him
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or had dealings with him in any way. He was patriotic and ably supported the Union in its great crisis.
Mr. Haworth was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, April 14, 1838. and was a son of Eli and Lydia (Dillon) Haworth, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of Tennessee. They were early settlers in Illinois where they devoted their lives to farming, dying there.
Samuel Haworth was reared on the home farm in Illinois and there as- sisted with the general work and he received his education in the common schools. On July 12, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, First Regiment United States Veteran Engineers, in which he served faithfully and efficiently until July 7, 1865, when he was honorably discharged, after which he returned to his home in Illinois, and there he married in 1869 Emily Rees, a native of that state. He had learned the harness-making trade which he worked at after his marriage in his native state. To his first marriage one son was born, William E. Haworth who is now living in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The wife and mother died in 1876 in Kansas, where the family had been living some time, and there our subject remained until 1879, when he came to Thorntown, Indiana, and worked at his trade and in October of that year he married Lydia W. Anderson, who was born in Fayette county, Indiana, and was a daughter of Wright and Mary (Butler) Anderson, the father a native of Maryland and the mother of Virginia. The second Mrs. Haworth was the widow of Joseph Bonsall, who was born in Salem, Ohio, April 14, 1836, and his death occurred April 19, 1875. To this second union of our subject. these children were born: Ernest, who is now living in Iowa, was a soldier in the Spanish-American war, having enlisted from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Most of his service was at Savannah, Georgia. Mabel, of Terre Haute, Indi- ana, is assistant principal of the training department of the State Normal school; Lucy is the wife of Fory Horner, of Thorntown. The two oldest children are deceased, Mary M. died when three years old and Otis E. died at the age of thirteen months. Mrs. Haworth has two grandchildren, Char- lotte and Myron Horner, the former now a student in Purdue University, LaFayette, Indiana, the latter in business with his father.
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