History of Carroll County Indiana, its people, industries and institutions, Part 21

Author: John C. Odell
Publication date: 1916
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 803


USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County Indiana, its people, industries and institutions > Part 21


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).


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either the prosecution or defense in twenty-eight murder cases alone, besides many others of scarcely less importance. A few of the most im- portant of these cases are the following: Associated in the prosecution of W. H. Lee, charged with the murder of Benjamin Tea in Tippecanoe county, resulting in conviction and 'a life sentence for the defendant; defended Minnie Babbitt, of Marion county, on a charge of murdering her child, the trial resulting in acquittal; her two brothers, charged as accomplices, took a change of venue to Boone county, where they were acquitted; assisted the state in the trial of Brooks and Carr, charged with the murder of Slater in Cass county; the case was brought to Carroll county on a change of venue and the trial resulted in conviction, Brooks being hung and Carr receiving a life sentence; in this case, which occurred in 1871, Senator David Turpie was attorney for the defendants. Mr. Pollard was associated with Daniel W. Voorhees, at Annapolis, Maryland, in the defense of Johnson, charged with the killing of his wife, and secured an acquittal. In the case of Alex- ander Keys, charged with the killing of his father-in-law, Benjamin Stew- art, at Flora, and which case was venued to Tippecanoe county, Mr. Pollard assisted in the prosecution and secured a conviction, the defendant receiving a life sentence. Mr. Pollard defended Riley Mullendore, who was charged with the first degree murder of Grover C. Cook in Tippecanoe county in 1913. In the trial in that county, the jury disagreed and the case was sent to Carroll county on a change of venue and tried there in January, 1915. After a bitterly contested trial, which lasted six weeks, the defendant was acquitted. In his long and busy career as a lawyer, Mr. Pollard has exhib- ited a weight of character; a native sagacity, a far-seeing judgment and a fidelity of purpose that has commanded the respect of all. Indomitable perseverance has been one of the keynotes to his success, and yet, hard fighter as he has been, he has always adhered so closely to the professional code of ethics that he has enjoyed the fullest confidence of his brethren at the bar.


In 1873 Governor Thomas A. Hendricks appointed Mr. Pollard prose- cuting attorney for the eleventh judicial circuit, comprising Cass and Car- roll counties, and in the following year he was elected to that office. During President Cleveland's first administration Mr. Pollard was appointed judge of the federal court of Montana. In 1888 he was the delegate from the ninth congressional district to the Democratic national convention, which renominated Mr. Cleveland for the presidency. Judge Pollard served a num- ber of years as county attorney and city attorney, and rendered efficient service to his community in these capacities.


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In 1869 Judge Pollard married Lillie M. Pigman, the daughter of G. W. Pigman, and to them were born three children, two sons, George and William, deceased, and Mrs. Mabel Isherwood, of Lafayette.


Politically, Judge Pollard has given his earnest support to the Demo- cratic party and has been influential in the councils of that organization. Unostentatious, open-hearted and candid in manner, the judge has, never- theless, made a definite impress on the life of the community and has con- tributed to its progress and development.


CHARLES C. CRAMPTON, M. D.


Among the men who stand as distinguished types of the world's work- ers, Dr. Charles C. Crampton, a well-known physician of Delphi, Carroll county, Indiana, is a man of fine intellectual and professional attainment, of most gracious personality and a strong and noble character. He has labored with rare zeal in the practice of medicine and has lent honor and dignity to the profession. Now in the prime of life he enjoys a large prac- tice in Delphi and Carroll county. Dr. Crampton was born on June 15, 1872, in Logansport, Indiana, and is the son of the Hon. A. B. and Louvisia (Alford) Crampton, the former of whom was born in Elkhart, Indiana, and who was the editor of the Citizen's Times, of Delphi, and governor of the Marion Soldiers' Home.


Charles C. Crampton was educated in the Delphi high school and at Notre Dame Academy, from which he was graduated in 1889. Afterward he entered Purdue University and was graduated from the pharmaceutical course in 1891. He then spent two years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago, and afterward in the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, graduating with the class of 1893. He began the practice of medicine immediately at Delphi and was first in partnership with Dr. W. Smith. Since the latter's death, Doctor Crampton has been in the practice alone.


In 1900 Dr. Charles C. Crampton was married to Flora B. Fisher, a native of the Hoosier state and a granddaughter of Robert Fisher, a promin- ent pioneer citizen of the Hoosier state. Doctor and Mrs. Crampton have one son, William, who is eleven years old.


Fraternally, Doctor Crampton is a member of the Indiana State Med- (16)


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ical Society and the Eleventh District of Indiana Counselor's Association of Railway Surgeons. He is prominent in Masonic circles and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. Politically, Doctor Crampton is a Democrat.


JOHN A. CARTWRIGHT.


Any history of Carroll county, embracing the political, business and financial phases of its record, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of the gentleman whose name appears above. For half a century he has been a prominent figure in the life of the community and has had a large part in its progress and development.


John A. Cartwright was born on November 17, 1830, in Trumbull county, Ohio, the son of John and Margaret (McCorkle) Cartwright, who were natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania, respectively. John Cartwright, who followed the pursuit of farming throughout his active life, was a Demo- crat in politics and a man of local prominence, having held a number of township offices. To him and his wife were born ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch is now the only survivor.


John A. Cartwright, after completing the public school course in his native state, attended Mt. Union Seminary, at Mt. Union, Ohio, and in 1852 entered the University of Indiana, graduating therefrom in 1855. During the following three years he was at the head of Sugar Grove Institute, and then, for a like period, served as principal of the Delphi schools. Upon coming to Carroll county, Mr. Cartwright at once became closely identified with the varied interests of the community and during all the years since then he has been a prominent figure here. Soon after coming here he was appointed school examiner and also served as school trustee. In 1868 he was elected mayor of Delphi, being the second incum- bent of that office. In 1870 he was elected auditor of Carroll county, and in 1874 he was re-elected to that office by the largest majority ever received by a candidate for a county office in Carroll county, and this, too, in face of the fact that his opponent was a well-known and highly esteemed citizen. In 1884 Mr. Cartwright was elected representative to the state Legislature, serving one term with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his con- stituents. Subsequently he served as a member of the county council. In all these positions of responsibility Mr. Cartwright ever kept the best inter- ests of the community uppermost and his official record was characterized by promptness, accuracy and sound business methods.


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For many years Mr. Cartwright was engaged in the lime business, in which he met with success. In 1892 he became identified with the banking business, beginning his career in that line in the A. H. Bowen & Company bank. Subsequently, in company with Edward W. Bowen and others, he organized the bank of E. W. Bowen & Company. This institution was suc- cessful from the start and later was changed to a state bank, being now known as the Delphi State Bank. Mr. Cartwright has remained actively identified with this bank and is now its president. He is also the owner of several hundred acres of good Carroll county land, in the operation of which he has been successful, and during the past twenty-five years he has given considerable attention to stock raising. Mr. Cartwright is a very active man, finding the keenest pleasure in work, and the statement that he has never taken but one vacation is evidence of his determination to "work out, rather than rust out." He is deeply interested in all phases of the com- munity life and gives his unreserved support to every movement looking to the betterment of the people.


Politically, Mr. Cartwright has been prominent in the ranks of the Democratic party and, though wisely conservative, has taken a healthy inter- est in the success of that party. Fraternally, he has for many years been a member of the Masonic order and at the present time is probably the oldest living Mason in Carroll county.


In 1861 John A. Cartwright was married to Susannah Hiett, of Tippe- canoe county, and to them five children have been born, as follow: Jessie, deceased, was the wife of Dr. Wycliffe Smith, of Delphi; John H., an attorney in Delphi, married Stella McAfee; George, who is cashier of the Delphi State Bank, married Blanche Gilliland and they have two children, John A. and Willard; Mary is deceased; Josephine is the wife of George R. Ives and the mother of three children, Mary, Joseph T. and John H.


RUSSELL D. VOORHEES.


It is the progressive, wide-awake young man who makes the real his- tory of a community. His influence as a potential factor in the community of his residence is hard to estimate. The examples successful young men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity illustrate what every young man may accomplish. There is always a full measure of satisfaction in referring even in a casual way to the achievements of successful men, because they give strength and solidity to the institutions which reflect the


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prosperity of a community. Such a young man is Russell D. Voorhees, one of the proprietors of the Voorhees Lumber Company, of Flora, Indiana.


Mr. Voorhees, who is a young man of far more than average ability, has enjoyed rather exceptional educational advantages. He was born on January 19, 1892, in Flora, and is the son of Charles and Addie (Roach) Voorhees. The late Charles Voorhees, who died on July 4, 1913, was a native of Monroe township, born in 1865. He was educated in the district schools and, at the age of nineteen, became interested in the lumber business and, for some time, was a partner in the firm of Voorhees Brothers. In 1893 he sold his interest and engaged in the livery business at Flora for a short time. He then moved to a farm in Monroe township, but, after living there for eighteen months, sold out and established a lumber yard at Monon, Indiana, in 1899. After selling the lumber yard at Monon, he purchased a yard at Gaston, Indiana, in 1901, but left Gaston to return to Flora, where, with his brother, R. D. Voorhees, he started the Voorhees Lumber Company. In 1907 he organized the Flora Saw-Mill Company and three years later engaged in the automobile business, with which he was connected at the time of his death.


In 1886 Charles Voorhees was married to Addie Roach, who was a native of Young America, Cass county, Indiana, and who died on August 18, 1915. To them were born two children, Mabel, who attended the high school in Monon and is the wife of Roy Good, of Flora, Indiana; and Russell D., the subject of this sketch.


Russell D. Voorhees has spent all of his life in Flora, with the excep- tion of two years, when he was a student at Indiana University at Bloom- ington. Previously, he had received a good common-school education and was graduated from the Flora high school. Mr. Voorhees was one of the most popular students at the state university during the period of his student- ship. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at the university and, since leaving school, has taken a great interest in the affairs of this fraternity and generally is to be found at the fraternity banquets.


In 1912 Russell D. Voorhees engaged in the lumber business with his father. About one year later, on April 2, 1913, he was married to Pauline V. Wood, who was educated in the public schools of Montpelier, Indiana.


Mr. and Mrs. Voorhees are members of the Christian church and Mr. Voorhees is a trustee in the church. Among his other interests, Mr. Voor- hees is the organist in the Flora Christian church and he is also otherwise active in church affairs. Fraternally, Russell D. Voorhees is a member of Flora Lodge No. 605, Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member


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of the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Masons and a member of Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. He is senior deacon in the Masonic lodge. Mr. Voorhees also belongs to Fountain City Lodge No. 280, Knights of Pythias. Although nominally identified with the Demo- cratic party, he has never taken a great interest in politics. He is energetic in business, personally cordial in his manners, respected and admired in the town where he resides.


MARTIN W. EATON.


Perhaps no man now active in business in Flora, Carroll county, Indi- ana, has enjoyed a more comprehensive experience in business than Martin W. Eaton, secretary and treasurer of the Carroll County Loan, Trust and Savings Company of Flora, Indiana, which Mr. Eaton helped to organize in 1910. The son of a patriotic father who gave four years of his life to the service of his country, Martin W. Eaton has successfully been engaged in farming, in teaching, in the mercantile business and in banking. The fact that stands out conspicuously in all of his commercial ventures is that he has experienced a uniform success in everything to which he has turned his hand.


Mr. Eaton is a native of Monroe township, this county, born east of Bringhurst on March 22, 1866. He is the son of Henry H. and Elizabeth (Witter) Eaton. The father was born in Union county, Indiana, on July 7, 1840, and there grew to manhood. His wife was a native of the same county. They were married in April, 1865, and came to Carroll county the next year. They located on the farm where they lived until the father's death in 1912. When he came to Carroll county, Indiana, he had no prop- erty and for several years was a renter. At the time of his death, how- ever, he owned two hundred and twenty acres of land, practically all of which he had made from the toil of his own hands.


In September, 1861, Henry H. Eaton enlisted in Company G, Thirty- sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until September. 1864, when he was honorably discharged. He was wounded at the battle of Rocky Faced Ridge, May 10, 1864. Henry H. and Elizabeth (Witter) Eaton had six children, of whom Martin W., was the eldest; Emma R. is the wife of James McCarty, of Carroll county; Samuel G. is a resident of Fort Collins, Colorado; George E. is a farmer in Carroll county; Anna A. is the wife of J. M. Earley, of Nappannee, Indiana; Roxie B. is the wife of Earl Cleaver, of Isabelle, South Dakota.


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Reared on the farm and educated in the district schools of Carroll county, Indiana, especially of Bringhurst, at Franklin College and the Indi- anapolis Business College, of Indianapolis, Indiana, Martin W. Eaton taught for some time in the Business College at Crawfordsville, Indiana, after finishing his education for business. Afterwards he went West and for five years was assistant cashier of the Citizen's Bank at McCook, Nebraska. Upon his return to Flora, Indiana, he engaged in the clothing business for twelve years, but sold out. For the next two years he was assistant cashier of the bank at Rossville, Indiana. On June 1, 1910, Mr. Eaton assisted in the incorporation of the Carroll County Loan, Trust and Savings Company, and for the first six months served as president of the institution. He was then elected as secretary and treasurer, which position he now holds.


The second annual report of the Carroll County Loan, Trust and Sav- ings Company, issued on March 30, 1912, shows that the deposits had increased from June 1, 1910, the opening day, when they were $38,841.59, to March 30, 1912, to $103,558.56. The total resources of the trust com- pany on March 30, 1912, were $130,547.61, and the total liabilities a like amount. The resources were itemized as follow: Loans and discounts, $86,940.43; overdrafts, $26.34; bonds and stocks, $228.67; company's build- ing, $11,500.00; furniture and fixtures, $2,500.00; due from banks and trust companies, $23,329.12; cash on hand, $5,866.53; cash items, $156.52. The liabilities are itemized as follow: Capital stock, $25,000.00; undivided profits, $736.56; interest, discount and other earnings, $759.24; deposits, $103,558.56; reserved for street .improvement, $493.25. At that time the officers were as follow: Charles E. Smith, president; Charles R. Reist, vice-president; U. D. Guth, vice-president; M. W. Eaton, secretary and treasurer; E. C. Metzger, assistant secretary and treasurer. The directors included. besides the first four officers named, Henry Rinehart, J. L. Acker- man and N. E. Knettle.


Mr. Eaton's wife before her marriage was Inez Smith, a native of Lafayette, Indiana,, who was graduated from the Rossville public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have had two children: Lois M., born on August 4, 1898, is a student in the high school; Henry S., born on November 4, 1899, is also a student in the high school.


Mr. Eaton, besides his interest in the Carroll County Loan, Trust and Savings Company, owns eighty acres of land in Monroe township. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton are members of the Christian church and Mr. Eaton is treasurer of the congregation and takes an active interest in church work.


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Fraternally, he is a member of Flora Lodge No. 605, Free and Accepted Masons, and is the present master. He is also a member of Clinton Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons and of Frankfort Council, Royal and Select Masters. He belongs to the Indiana Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons at Indianapolis, and to Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of Fountain City Lodge No. 280, Knights of Pythias, in which he is a past chancellor and a member of the grand lodge. Elected as a Republican, he served a term as treasurer of the corporation of Flora. Mr. Eaton is an honorable citizen, a man with generous impulses, con- servative in business but nevertheless aggressive where this quality is needed. He not only possesses the confidence of the officers and of the directors of the institution of which he is the executive head, but likewise the confidence of the public generally.


ELLIS E. SHOOKMAN.


In every community there are individuals of marked ability, and as the good standing of the citizenship of any location lies in the honesty, industry and progressiveness of its representative business men, it is a pleasure to briefly outline the career of Mr. Shookman, who is one of the prominent and best-known residents of Burrows. Although the youngest man in his particular line of business, he has shown an aptitude for executive business ability far beyond the average man of his age.


Ellis E. Shookman, cashier, the Farmers State Bank, Burrows, Indi- ana, was born on March 17, 1888, near New Hoagland, in Allen county, Indiana, and is a son of George and Lucretia (Merriam) Shookman. His youth was spent among farm scenes, and his education was obtained at the public schools, graduating from the Fort Wayne high school. A short time after completing his education, he was appointed cashier of the Farmers' State Bank, of which he is also a stockholder. Politically, Mr. Shookman is an ardent sympathizer with the principles of the Democratic party, while his religious belief lies with the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he belongs to Mt. Olive Lodge No. 48, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Burrows Lodge No. 495, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.


George Shookman, father of the subject of this sketch, is an agricul- turist of Allen county. Indiana. He was united in marriage with Lucretia Merriam, by whom he has had five children: M. O. Shookman, a machinist of Fort Wayne, Indiana; C. O. Shookman, a farmer of Allen county ; F. M.


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Shookman, cashier of the Farmers' State Bank at Urbana, Indiana; O. S. Shookman, a machinist, living at Fort Wayne, and Ellis E.


Ellis E. Shookman was united in marriage on November 15, 1911, with Catherine L. Small, daughter of M. F. and Emma (Shaffer) Small. Her education was obtained at the public and high schools at Hoagland, Indiana.


Mr. Shookman is a young man to whom the business of making friends comes as a natural gift, which, combined with his advanced progressive ideas and sound business methods, have won for him the esteem of all who know him.


REUBEN' R. BRIGHT.


Reuben R. Bright, the president of the Bright National Bank, of Flora, Indiana, and a veteran of the Civil War, is to be numbered among the pro- gressive and influential citizens of Carroll county. He has figured as one of the builders in the community and is especially worthy of consideration in this connection. By his industry and sound judgment, he has not only built up a substantial fortune for his declining years, but has materially assisted in the general advancement of the community. At the first call to arms issued by President Lincoln he enlisted in Company K, Fifteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, June 8, 1861, and was mustered into service on June 14 of the same year. He spent the first three months of his service in West Virginia with General McClellan, but was subsequently transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and on December 31, 1862, he was wounded at the battle of Stone's River, being disabled until March, 1863, when he rejoined his regiment. On November 25, 1863, at the battle of Missionary Ridge, he was wounded in his left hand and in the left thigh. These two wounds so disabled him that he was honorably discharged in June, 1864.


Mr. Bright was born near Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio, April 19, 1839. He is the son of Joseph and Catherine (Hay) Bright, the former of whom was the son of Peter L. and Magdalene (Bowman) Bright. Peter L. Bright was the son of George Bright, a native of Rock- ingham county, Virginia. Peter L. Bright grew to manhood in that county and was there married to Magdalene Bowman. In 1828 they located in Montgomery county. Ohio, where they lived until their deaths. They were the parents of ten children, Joseph R.,, Samuel D., George (who died


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REUBEN R. BRIGHT.


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in young manhood), Isaac, David G., Nancy E., Magdalene, Anna, Eliza and Sarah.


In 1853 Joseph R. Bright, who had married Catherine Hay, came with his family to Howard county, Indiana, and located near Burlington, where he owned a small farm, and there reared a family of thirteen children. He was a member of the Church of the Brethren and an upright and honorable citizen, passing the remainder of his life in Howard county. Eight of the children are now living, namely: Reuben R., the subject of this sketch; Archie, who was a soldier in Company G, One Hundred and Forty-Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and is now a resident of the Soldiers' Home at Marion, Indiana; Joseph G. T .; Barbara M., the widow of James R. Cromer; Mary A., the widow of George Rice; Augusta V., the wife of Andrew Eikenberry, of Oklahoma; Hannah C., the wife of M. L. Rowland, of Portland, Oregon; Rebecca A., the widow of James McClain, of Cass County. The deceased children are, Lewis and Isaac, who died in the defense of their country; Peachy H .; Daniel A., a soldier in the Seventy- first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who was mustered out of service as an adju- tant with the rank of captain, and Jacob.


When Joseph and Catherine (Hay) Bright brought their family to Howard county, Indiana, Reuben R. was only fourteen years old. He had previously attended the public schools of Montgomery county, Ohio, and continued his education in the schools of Howard county. There he grew up on a farm, performing the usual labors which fall to the lot of the average country boy. Having served his country faithfully as a soldier in the Civil War, he returned to Howard county, Indiana, in 1864, and was employed in light farming for about four years thereafter. About this time Mr. Bright was married to Eliza J. Ewing and to them was born one child, the wife and child both dying shortly after the birth. Mr. Bright was then, for some time, an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Dayton. In 1873 he came to Flora. Indiana, and engaged in the drug business with Dr. James R. Cromer, an arrangement which continued about twenty-three years. About 1895 he sold out to his partner and moved to Georgia, having been one of the colonists who assisted in laying out the town of Fitzgerald, in that state. After living there for a short time, he sold out, and on July 24, 1897, came back to Flora and purchased the private bank here, which he operated until 1905, when it was reorganized as the Bright National Bank. Mr. Bright, who was the first president of the institution, is still serving in this capacity. The vice-president, at the organization of the




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