USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 4
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of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has long been prominent in fraternal circles, and his daily life among his fellowmen would indicate that he attempts to carry the sublime precepts of these orders into his every relation of life.
JAMES SNODGRASS.
The student interested in the history of Boone county does not have to carry his investigations far into its annals before learning that James Snod- grass has long been an active and leading representative and that his labors have proven a potent force in making this a rich farming region. Through several decades he has carried on diversified farming and stock raising, gradually improving his land, and while he has prospered in this he has also found ample opportunity to assist in the material development of the county, and his co-operation has been of value for the general good. He is one of the honored veterans of the Union army who, when the tocsin of war sounded in the nation's greatest crisis, uncomplainingly went forth to defend with his life, if need be, the honor of the old flag. His career in every respect has been one of commendation and is well worth study and emulation.
Mr. Snodgrass was born January 24, 1835 in Hancock county, Indiana. He is a son of Robert and Rebecca (Gregg) Snodgrass, natives of Ken- tucky. The grandparents, John Snodgrass and wife, were natives of Vir- ginia, from which state they removed to Hancock county, Indiana, as early as 1812, four years before the state was admitted into the Union and when it was still principally the home of red men. Here the elder Snodgrass entered land from the government on which he established the future home of the family. He was a man of courage and thrift and succeeded in the face of the great obstacles encountered by every frontiersman. John and Fannie (Spillman) Gregg, natives of Culpeper county, Virginia, came to Ruslı county, Indiana about 1814, and were thus also among the early pioneers of this state. Mr. Gregg was a soldier in the war of 1812. He finally re- moved to Hancock county, this state where he settled in woods and de- veloped a farm. Here the parents of our subject were married and began life on a farm, but Robert Snodgrass was also a flour miller, and he traded
JAMES SNODGRASS AND FAMILY
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extensively in land, which he bought and sold. He and his wife spent the latter parts of their lives in Clinton county. The father died August 5, 1876; the mother died in November, 1879.
James Snodgrass, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm, and he attended the subscription schools in Boone county, later in Mechanics- burg. He learned to read at Thorntown and after he reached man's estate he attended writing school and learned to write.
He remained with his parents until the breaking out of the Civil war, enlisting on August 22, 1861, in Company K, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and he served under General George H. Thomas in the army of the Cumberland, in Kentucky, later in the Mississippi army. He saw much hard service and proved to be an excellent soldier. Among the engagements in which he participated were those of Mill Springs, Perryville, siege of Corinth, Crab Orchard, Louisville, on the pursuit of Bragg, Tullahoma, Pigeon Mountain, Chickamauga, Tunnel Hill, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain. At the battle of Chickamauga he was wounded below the right knee by a rifle ball on September 19, 1863, which resulted in his spending two months in a hospital in Nashville. Besides the above battles, he was in many skirm- ishes while with the army in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia. After his recovery from the wound he rejoined his regiment with which he remained until he was honorably discharged September 19, 1864, after which he returned home, his parents then living in Clinton county. Soon thereafter he began farming for himself on eighty acres which he had bought before going to war. He prospered by close application and hard work and added to his original holdings until he became owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and thirty-four acres which he sold in 1903 and bought two hun- dred and sixty acres of improved land in Marion township, later adding fifty acres, then purchased another tract of forty acres in Adams township, Ham- ilton county. He has improved from time to time his land which he has for some time kept rented, but which he oversees. He has always kept a good grade of live stock, and he has a splendid home, and now in his de- clining years he is taking life easy, having every necessary comfort.
Mr. Snodgrass was married April 27, 1865, to Clarissa McCain, who was born in Frankfort, Indiana, January 8, 1841. She is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Young) McCain, natives of Ohio, from which state
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they came to Frankfort, Indiana, in a very early day, making the trip over- land and he conducted the first general merchandise store in Frankfort at that time.
The following children have been born to our subject and wife: William, born April 28, 1866, who lives with our subject, operates the home farm, and he formerly taught school twenty years; Ida May, born April 24, 1868, is the wife of Thomas Sims, of Indianapolis, and they have three boys-J. Verne, Max and James T .; Mary J., born July 16, 1870, is the widow of Elijah M. Walker, and she lives in Marion township and has five children-Ruth A., born August 18. 1896, Rena E., born August 4, 1899, Clara C., born August 25, 1902, Jas. W. born May 1, 1904, Ida Beatrice, born February 8, 1906; Frederick, born March 21, 1873, died when three years old; John McCain, born July 2, 1876, died in infancy; Fannie, born November 4, 1880, is the wife of Anderson Jones, of Delaware county, Indiana. They have two chil- dren-Dorothy May, born April 21, 1907, Alma L., born February 7, 1910.
Politically Mr. Snodgrass is a Democrat. He is a member of the William Smith Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Sheridan, Indiana. Religiously he is a member of the Christian church, in which he served two years as elder, and is an active member of the same, as also is his family.
HENRY N. COONS, M. D.
It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that move a life of ceaseless activity and large professional success; little more can be done to note their manifestation in the career of the individual under con- sideration. In view of this fact the life of the distinguished physician and public-spirited man of affairs whose name appears at the head of this article affords a striking example of well-defined purpose with the ability to make that purpose subserve not only his own ends but the good of his fellowmen as well. Doctor Coons has long held distinctive prestige in a calling which re- quires for its base, sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by rigid professional training and thorough mastery of techni- cle knowledge with the skill to apply the same, without which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to human ills. In his chosen
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field of endeavor Doctor Coons has achieved success such as few attain, and his present eminent standing among the leading medical men of this section of Indiana is duly recognized and appreciated not only in his own city and county, but also in adjoining counties.
Doctor Coons, whose name has for a period of thirty years been a house- hold word to the people of Lebanon and Boone county, was born in Jackson township and he has been content to spend his life in this community; the date of his birth is September 18, 1853. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Beck) Coons, one of our worthy pioneer families. The father was born in Bath county, Kentucky, and the mother was a native of Montgomery county, Indiana, and here she grew to womanhood and received her education in the old-time rural schools, as did also Mr. Coons in his native community in the Blue Grass state, where he spent his boyhood, coming to Boone county, In- diana, in 1848, at the age of twenty-two years, he having been born June 7, 1826. He married soon after coming here and established his home on a farm in Jackson township, becoming in due course of time one of our best general farmers and highly respected citizens. Since the autumn of 1892 he has been living in Lebanon, retired. His wife was called to her eternal rest February 14, 1912.
Doctor Coons was reared on the home farm and there he worked when a boy, and attended the rural schools in his vicinity, later studied in the pre- paratory school of Wabash College for two years, then entered Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Indiana, from which he was graduated in the class of 1880. After his graduation he began the study of medicine under Dr. William Taylor and Dr. J. A. Utter, of Terre Haute, remaining under their direction for several months, then entered Pulte Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, but completed his medical course at Hahnemann Medical College in Chicago in 1883. The same year he opened an office in Lebanon, which he has maintained continuously until the present time and has en- joyed an extensive and ever-growing practice, for three decades, ranking among the foremost general practitioners in this section of the state. He has remained a close student and has kept fully abreast of the times in medical research, and has taken several short post-graduate courses in Chicago. He has also devoted much attention to surgery and has been very successful in that field. He is a member of the Indiana Institute of Homeopathy and the American Institute of Homeopathy, also belongs to the Marion County
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Homeopathic Society. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic Order, having attained the thirty-second degree in the latter. He is also a Shriner and Knight Templar. Politically, the Doctor is a Prohibitionist, in which he has long been active and foremost in all move- ments calculated to advance the best interests of all the people. He and his family are members of the Christian church, in which he is an elder and active in church and Sunday school work. He is chief medical examiner for the Lexington Life Insurance Company, also is examiner for various other companies. His office is in the First National Bank building and his com- modious home is at 404 East Pearl street.
Doctor Coons was married August 6, 1884, to Jessie Grubb, a daughter of David and Evelyn (Daniels) Grubb, who lived in Shelby county, Indiana, now both deceased. To the Doctor and wife three children were born, namely: Mary, Fern and John, all at home at this writing. The son is a senior in Wabash College and will study medicine; the eldest daughter is a graduate of Washington College for Girls; she is an accomplished musician and a teacher of music; the second daughter was also graduated from Wash- ington College, later graduating from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in the class of 1913, taking a literary course, specializing in French, German, history and literature, and she intends to teach. These children are all talented and promising.
RALPH W. IMEL.
The demand for scientific, trained men along agricultural lines shows no signs of abating. Agricultural colleges are everywhere trying to meet the demand being made upon them for graduates to manage large ranches, to serve in various departments of the United States department of agricul- ture as experimental station workers, and irrigation experts. Many men are also being employed as county horticultural and farm advisors, and it is be- lieved that this line of work will grow as fast as trained men are available. There are also many calls for graduates in forestry by the government and by lumbermen. Young men of Boone county who are choosing a life work might do well to consider the opportunities in this line of work which is not
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only pleasant, healthful and useful but remunerative. It is a field that is not overcrowded, in this respect being at least different from many other pro- fessions and trades.
Ralph W. Imel, the present able and popular agricultural agent of Boone county, with office at Lebanon, is one of the young men of Indiana who was wise in selecting a vocation, and, judging from his pronounced success so far and the industry and zeal he has displayed the future holds much of promise for him in this great arena of human endeavor.
Mr. Imel was born July 14, 1885, at Fairland, Shelby county, Indiana. He is a son of Peter H. and Carrie (Mather) Imel. Peter H. Imel was born at Rock Lane, Johnson county, Indiana, January 7, 1839, and is a son of George Imel, a pioneer of that section of the state, and there our subject's father grew to manhood, received such educational advantages as the early day schools afforded and he has devoted his life to farming in Indiana, with the exception of a short time spent in the state of Illinois. He has been very successful as a general agriculturist, and, having accumulated a competency, is now living in retirement at Fairland, although he still oversees the work on his fine eighty acre farm near that town. Politically, he is independent, and in religious matters is a Baptist. He and Carrie Mather were married January 1, 1868. She is a native of England, born March 17, 1850, and is a daughter of John and Anna (Conon) Mather, who emigrated to the United States in 1855, when their daughter was five years of age. The family located in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she grew to womanhood and was educated.
Ralph W. Imel grew to manhood on the home farm near Fairland and there learned the ins and outs of farming as known in those days, having an able preceptor in his father. He soon saw that this was his true bent and he sought to advance himself in the science of tilling the soil and has remained a close student to the present time. He attended the common schools at Fair- land and was graduated from the high school there in '1904, then taught school very acceptably for three years, working on the farm during the sum- mer months the meantime. In 1907 he entered Franklin College and the fol- lowing year took up his studies in the agricultural department of Purdue University, LaFayette, Indiana, where his advancement was rapid and from which he was graduated in 1911. He then went to Minnesota and took a position as superintendent of the North Branch Agricultural High School, where he remained two years, giving satisfaction to all concerned. In 1913
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he was appointed agricultural agent of Boone county, Indiana, consequently returned here to begin his new duties, which he is now discharging in a man- ner that reflects much credit upon his ability, fidelity and industry, and has done much to encourage better farming in this locality.
Mr. Imel has remained unmarried. He is independent in politics, in religious matters is a Baptist, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Agathon Fraternity of Purdue University. He is a young man of genial and court- eous address and has made many friends since locating in Lebanon.
DAVID M. CLARK.
It is a well authenticated fact that success comes not as a caprice of chance, but as the legitimate result of well-applied energy, unflagging deter- mination and unswerving perseverance in a course of action once decided upon by the individual. Only those who diligently seek the goddess Fortuna, find her-she never was known to smile upon the idler or dreamer. David M. Clark, the capable and popular county auditor of Boone county, clearly understood this fact early in life, so he did not seek any royal road to suc- cess, but sought to direct his feet along the well-beaten paths of those who had won in the battle of life along legitimate lines. He had their careers in mind when casting about for a suitable arena of action, and in tracing his life history it is plainly seen that the prosperity which Mr. Clark enjoys has been won by commendable qualities, and it is also his personal worth which has gained for him the good standing among his fellow citizens in Boone county, in which he has long been widely known.
Mr. Clark was born March 23, 1867, in Lawrence county, Indiana. He is a son of Andrew J. and Polly Ann (Kinser) Clark. both parents natives of Lawrence county also, and there they grew to maturity, were educated in the old-time rural schools and there married. The Clarks came from Vir- ginia and settled in Lawrence county in an early day. William Clark, great grandfather of our subject, was one of the first settlers of Indiana and reared his family in Lawrence county when settlers were few and far between. He cleared and developed a large farm. His son, James, grandfather of our
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subject, also spent his life farming there. Andrew J. Clark, father of our subject, also engaged in farming in that locality and there he and his wife still reside.
David M. Clark grew to manhood on the home farm and worked hard when a boy in crop seasons, and during the winter months he attended the district schools, but left school at the end of the eighth year. He has later become a well-informed man through contact with the business world and by wide home reading. He remained on the home farm until his marriage, which occurred May 25, 1890, to Catherine Armbruster, a daughter of William and Mary Ann (Aishear) Armbruster, a well-established family of Monroe county, Indiana, where Mrs. Clark grew to womanhood and re- ceived a good common school education.
To the union of our subject and wife two daughters and one son were born, Dessie, who married Guy Lewis, a grocer of Jamestown, this county ; Eiffel is at home; and Herschel L., is at home.
Mr. Clark began life for himself as a farmer in Lawrence county, con- tinuing with gratifying results from year to year until Thanksgiving day, 1895, when he removed to Jackson township, Boone county, where he farmed for five years, then, in 1900, moved to Jamestown and engaged in the hard- ware business with George W. Shaw, under the firm name of Clark & Shaw, which partnership still continues. They have one of the best known and best equipped hardware stores in the county, carrying all kinds of hardware used by the farmer and in fact everything, including farming implements of the most improved designs, building materials, various makes of machinery and a large and carefully selected stock at all seasons and, dealing honestly and courteously with their hundreds of customers they draw trade from a wide territory, which they hold without effort. Mr. Clark is also interested in various other lines of business, and is one of the most enterprising, far- sighted and capable of our present-day business men.
Politically, Mr. Clark is a loyal Democrat and has been active in local party affairs for a number of years. He has served as a member of the Democratic County Central Committee, and has been a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions. He is one of the leaders of his party in Boone county and has done much for the success of Democracy in this section of the state. In November, 1910, he was elected auditor of Boone county, and took office January 1, 1912, and is now serving a four years'
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term in a manner that reflects much credit upon his fidelity and ability and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He is the first auditor to occupy the magnificent new court house. Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Encampment, also the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. He has filled all the chairs in the first named lodge and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge at different times. He and his family are members of the Christian church at Jamestown. Since taking office Mr. Clark and family have resided at 502 East Main street, Lebanon, which property he owns, and which is in one of the most desirable residential sections of the city.
GEORGE WASHINGTON CAMPBELL.
Ceaselessly to and fro flies the deft shuttle which weaves the web of human destiny, and into the vast mosaic fabric enter the individuality, the effort, the accomplishment of each man, be his station that most lowly or one of majesty, pomp and power. Within the textile folds may be traced the line of each individuality, be it the one that lends the beautiful sheen of honest worth and useful endeavors, or one that, dark and zigzag, finds its way through warp and woof, marring the composite beauty by its blackened threads, ever in evidence of the shadowed and unprolific life. Into the great aggregate each individuality is merged, and yet the essence of each is never lost, be the angle of its influence wide-spreading and grateful, or narrow and baneful. In his efforts he who essays biographical memoirs finds much of profit and inuch of alluring fascination when he would follow out, in even a cursory way, the tracings of a life-history, seeking to find the keynote of each respective personality. These efforts and their resulting transmission can- not fail of value in an objective way, for in each case may the lesson of life be conned, line after line, precept after precept. One could not contemplate the life-record of the late George Washington Campbell, for many years one of the leading business men and public-spirited citizens of Boone county, Indiana without gaining therefrom many helpful hints and forming at the same time a very high opinion of the man, for his various efforts in material and civic affairs, extending over a period of many years, resulted in incal-
Seo MCampbell
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culable good and stamped him as a gentleman of rare attributes of head and heart, which alone would excite the admiration and reverence of all, especially of the contemplative turn of mind, and his record might well be followed by the youth hesitating at the parting of the ways.
Mr. Campbell, who was a prominent manufacturer of Lebanon, and for years one of the best known men of affairs in northern Indiana, was born in Clinton county, this state, March 9, 1845. He was a son of Mark and Matilda (Goshorn) Campbell. The father was born August II, 1800 in Pennsylvania, and the mother was also a native of that state. There they grew to maturity, received such educational advantages as the early-day rural schools afforded, and there they married, emigrating to Clinton county, Indi- ana in pioneer times, there developed a good farm by their industry, on which they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying October 1, 1870, after passing his allotted three score and ten. The mother, whose birth occurred July 6, 1805, died before passing the half century mark, on January 18. 1854. The father subsequently married again. His family consisted of ten children by his first wife, only two of whom are now living, namely : William, James, Nicholas G., Robert, John B., Sarah J., Mart T. is living; George W., sub- ject of this sketch; Hannah A. was next in order; and Millard F. the young- est. is living.
George W. Campbell grew to manhood on the home farm in Clinton county where he worked hard when he became of proper age, consequently his early schooling was interrupted until he was sixteen years of age. But he was ambitious and studied at home, becoming a splendid example of a successfully self-educated and self-made man. For a time he taught school near Mulberry, his native county. Later he turned his attention to the drug business, and in order to properly prepare himself he took a course in chemistry in Cincinnati, Ohio. His first drug store was in Frankfort, Indi- ana, where he got a good start, then came to Lebanon in 1875 where he con- tinued the same line of endeavor with more gratifying results until he launched into the lumber business, becoming the senior member of the well- known firm of Campbell, Smith, Ritchie & Company, Lebanon's chief manu- facturing industry, which has given employment and support to more than one hundred families for many years. They maintained an extensive and modernly equipped plant, where various specialties, such as kitchen cabinets were manufactured, which were of such superior workmanship and quality
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that they ever found a very ready market over a vast territory, the company also owning and operating large lumber yards. The great prestige and pro- nounced success of the firm was due for the most part to the able management and wise counsel, indomitable industry and rare business acumen of Mr. Campbell. He was certainly deserving of a great deal of credit for what he accomplished, having forced his way unaided from a humble beginning to a position in the front ranks of the substantial, progressive and influential men of affairs of this section of Indiana. He owned a beautiful modern residence on South Meridian street.
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