USA > Indiana > Carroll County > History of Carroll County Indiana, its people, industries and institutions > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
Digitized by Google
260
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. Roach was married on October 6, 1897, a short time after his graduation from the law school, to Georgia Newell, the daughter of Henry M. and Julia (Van Gundy) Newell, of Chicago, but formerly of Rockfield, Carroll county, Indiana. Georgia Newell was born at Rockfield, October 10, 1876. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Rockfield, Carroll county. Her mother is deceased but her father is still living. They were the parents of three children, Georgia, Homer M. and a daughter who died in infancy. Mrs. Roach's paternal grandparents were John and Phoebe Newell, who were the parents of three children, Mrs. Harriet E. Stansel, Henry M. and Dr. J. W., of Denver, Indiana. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Roach was Adam Van Gundy, a very early settler in Carroll county, Indiana, and one of the prominent citizens of the county during his day and generation, and lived to be a very old man. Of his children, Nelson .W. served as sheriff of Carroll county for two terms. The other children were Willard and Julia. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Roach have no children.
A director of the Delphi State Bank, of Delphi, William A. Roach is also secretary and treasurer of the Ockley Lumber & Supply Company, of Ockley, Indiana. Fraternally, he is a member of Mt. Olive Lodge No. 48, Free and Accepted Masons; the Delphi Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Delphi Commandery No. 40, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. Mr. Roach is now serving as chancellor commander of Delphi Lodge No. 80, Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the uniform rank of this lodge. He is a member of the State Bar Association. Mrs. Roach is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Roach has served as president of the Methodist Brotherhood of Delphi.
PERRY RULE.
Wielding a force beyond the average in his community, the Hon. Perry Rule occupies a position of prominence, recognized beyond the county in which he resides. Having been elected to the Legislature, he represented Carroll, Howard and Miami counties, serving in the session of 1915. Mr. Rule is a man of more than ordinary ability, and one in whom his con- stituents have the utmost confidence, believing their interests well looked after in every case coming under his jurisdiction.
Digitized by Google
261
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Perry Rule was born on January 21, 1873, in Elkhart county, Indiana, and is a son of Harrison and Rebecca (Dumire) Rule. He was reared as a Dunkard, the faith of his father, who was blind for twenty years prior to his death. Mr. Rule cared for his father during his years of blindness, and educated himself by reading to him. At the age of twenty-one, March 4, 1894, he located in Deer Creek township, Carroll county, remaining there three years, when he came to Camden, this county, in 1897. When he began farming for himself he had sixty acres of land given to him and has since acquired and cleared one hundred and twenty acres, necessitating a great deal of hard labor. He now has a total of over three hundred acres. Politically, Mr. Rule has always been an ardent supporter of Democratic principles and has taken an active interest in politics. In the fall of 1907 he was elected trustee of Jackson township, and served until January 1, 1915, when he was elected to the Legislature from Carroll, Howard and Miami counties, Indiana. Religiously, although reared in the Dunkard faith, he has broken away from that belief, and has allied his membership with the Church of the Brethren.
Harrison Rule, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, and his wife, Rebecca (Dumire) Rule, was born in Darke county, Ohio. They were united in marriage in Seneca county, Ohio, and moved to Elkhart, Indiana, some time between 1840 and 1850, residing there for a number of years, and in 1880 removed to Clinton county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Rule died in 1894, and his wife died in 1875. They were the parents of eleven children, only five of whom are now living: Sarah, who was married to Christ Miller, of Clinton county, Indiana; Lena, who became the wife of Daniel Miller, of Carroll county ; Thomas, of Goshen, Indiana; Perry; and Mary, who became the wife of Alfred Culp, of Elkhart county. Harrison Rule was married a second time, to which union two children were born, Rebecca, married Stephen Metzger; and Harrison.
Perry Rule was united in marriage on March 4, 1894, with Anna Wise, daughter of Isaac and Susan (Metzger) Wise. She was born in Deer Creek township, where she spent her girlhood days and attended the district schools. To this union have been born seven children, all but one of whom are living in 1915: Monroe, who was graduated from the Camden high school; Alpha, who was graduated from the public school, and is in her third year at high school; Mabel; James, Whitcomb and Riley, two sons and a daughter, all of whom were born on November 4, 1907, and of whom, Mr. Rule is duly proud.
Digitized by Google
262
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. Rule is a citizen in whom his fellowmen may well take pride. He possesses a wonderful amount of foresight, and represents sound principles and straightforward methods.
CALVIN E. CARNEY, M. D.
The man who devotes his talents and his energies to the noble work of relieving the ills and sufferings of mankind, pursues a calling which in dignity, importance and beneficial results, is second to no other. If the physician is true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to relieve the sufferings of humanity, he is indeed a benefactor to all mankind. Belonging to this class of professional men in Delphi, is Dr. Calvin E. Carney, a well- known physician and surgeon, who has perhaps no superior among the physicians and surgeons of Carroll county. Realizing early in his profes- sional career that those who attain success in the medical profession, must have not only technical ability but a broad human sympathy, he has digni- fied and honored his profession by noble services. In 1903 he visited Europe, attending the clinics in Berlin and Heidelberg, Germany; Edin- burgh, Scotland; and other places. No part of his training has been more helpful in the practice of his profession than the information, inspiration and insight he gained on this tour of study and investigation.
Calvin E. Carney is a native of Logansport, Cass county, Indiana, and was born on May 23. 1868. His parents, Robert M. and Lucy A. (Chap- man) Carney, were born in Indiana, the father in Logansport and the mother in Colburn, Tippecanoe county. Reared on his father's farm in Cass county, Robert M. Carney lived on the farm all of his life, but he was also a contractor and built many miles of gravel roads in this section of the state. He served as county commissioner by appointment and lived a most active life up until the time of his death in November, 1909, when he was sixty-nine years old. His wife still survives and is now sixty-eight years old. She is a member of the Lutheran church as was her husband also. They were the parents of four children, of whom two are physicians, Dr. Calvin E., the subject of this sketch; Dr. John R., a physician at Pyrmont. this county; Effie, the wife of William Beal, of Logansport; and Carrie, the wife of Henry Swier, of Logansport.
Doctor Carney's paternal grandfather was James Carney, who married a Miss McCain. He was a native of County Cork, Ireland, and his wife
Digitized by Google
263
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
of Ohio. After coming to America at the age of nineteen, he settled in Delphi, where he owned the old carding-mill. Subsequently, he sold the Delphi mill and purchased the carding-mill on Deer Creek, which he traded finally for four hundred acres of land in Cass county. He was a thrifty citizen and a most enterprising farmer and, at the time of his death, his estate amounted to twenty-two thousand dollars. He died in middle life, but his wife lived to be seventy-seven years old. They were the parents of a number of children, among whom were Robert M., Henry, who was familiarly known as "Bruce"; Mrs. Elizabeth West, Mrs. Laura Nicodemus and Dr. Marietta Bradfield. The maternal grandparents of Dr. Carney were Jacob and Maria (Richardson) Chapman, who were natives of the Hoosier state and who lived at Chapmanville, a town named for the family. Jacob Chapman was a farmer. He and his wife had seven children, six of whom were Anthony, Lucy A., Albert, Bud, John and Effie.
Calvin E. Carney grew up on his father's farm in Washington town- ship, Cass county, Indiana, attending the district schools and finally the high school at Logansport. After finishing the high school course, he taught school for about three years in the old home school and, during this period, became interested in medicine and studied the subject at home. Later he entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, and was graduated in 1895. He immediately began the practice at Pyrmont, in Carroll county, and, for the past twenty years, has practiced medicine in the county. Dur- ing the past twelve years he has been located at Delphi.
On November 10, 1898, Dr. Calvin E. Carney was married to Della Petitgean, the daughter of Nicholas and Catherine (Buck) Petitgean, who was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. Mrs. Carney's father was a native of France and her mother a native of near Dayton, Indiana. Both are now deceased. They were the parents of twelve children, only three of whom reached maturity, the others dying of smallpox. Nicholas Petitgean was a soldier in the Civil War and served his country for a little more than a year as a private. Three children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Carney, Ruth C., Paul E. and John R., all of whom are attending school.
Dr. and Mrs. Carney are members of the Presbyterian and Catholic churches, respectively. Dr. Carney belongs to Mt. Olive Lodge No. 48, Free and Accepted Masons; to Delphi Chapter No. 22, Royal Arch Masons; to Delphi Commandery No. 40, Knights Templar; and also to Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. He is a thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Indianapolis Con-
Digitized by Google
264
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
sistory. Dr. Carney belongs to Delphi Lodge No. 80, Knights of Pythias, and to the uniform rank of this lodge. He is the surgeon of the eighth regiment, uniform rank, Knights of Pythias. Having been elected on the Democratic ticket, Doctor Carney served for one term as coroner of Carroll county. He belongs to the Carroll County Medical Society and to the Indi- ana State Medical Association and to the American Medical Association.
JAMES L. WILLSON.
Prominent in the affairs of Carroll county and distinguished as a citizen whose influence extends beyond the limit of Flora and vicinity, James L. Willson stands out as a conspicuous figure among the earlier citizens of this county. All of his undertakings have been actuated by noble motives and high resolves and characterized by breadth of wisdom. His success in life clearly exemplifies the consequence of rightly applying the talents with which he was endowed. During the Civil War he was one of the organizers of the Home Guard and held a commission as first lieutenant, signed by Gov. Oliver P. Morton. Although he never saw active service, he was subject to call at any time. Mr. Willson is proud of this commis- sion, he has every right to be.
James L. Willson, a retired merchant of Flora, was born on Decem- ber 17, 1835, in Preble county, Ohio, the son of James and Sarah (Ault) Willson. James Willson was born in Pennsylvania in 1792 and was the son of Joseph Willson. The genealogy of the Willson family dates back to the coming of three brothers to America from England. One located in the South, and it is supposed that the late Jason Willson, of Marion, Indiana, was a descendant of this brother. The other two brothers located in Pennsylvania and James L. Willson belongs to one of these families.
James Willson, the father of James L., located with his family on Twin creek, near Alexandria, in Preble county, Ohio, in 1813, and lived on the same farm until 1856, when he died. His wife also passed away about the same time. At one time he served on the board of county com- missioners, being a member when the present court house in Eaton was built. Originally a Whig, he became a Republican upon the organization of the new party and was always active in local politics. He was also an active member of the Methodist church and died in this faith. A resource-
Digitized by Google
JAMES L. WILLSON.
Digitized by
Digitized by
265
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
ful business man, he was able to give each of his five children one hundred and sixty acres of land, most of which was situated in Indiana. James L. Willson still owns the farm received from his father. The six children were: Jesse A., who was a merchant and banker, but is now deceased; Joseph, who was a farmer near Mexico, Indiana, is also deceased; J. Wes- ley, deceased; (a son, E. L., residing near Galveston, Cass county, is the only living member of the Willson family of his generation bearing the name) ; Nancy is the widow of Alfred Neff, who lives near Mexico, Indi- ana; Sarah is the widow of Vincent Homan, of Mexico, Indiana; James L. is the subject of this sketch.
Reared on a farm in Preble county, Ohio, James L. Willson attended the pioneer schools of Preble county until he was seventeen years old, receiving a good common-school education. In 1858 he started in life for himself and for one year owned and operated a feed store at Eaton, Ohio. The next year he came to Mexico, Indiana, and established a grocery and hardware business, with a capital of five hundred dollars. He operated this store for twenty-three years, a part of the time in partnership with Mr. Homan Willson. When Mr. Willson sold out the stock invoiced for twenty- three thousand dollars. The stock was traded for seven hundred acres of land at Medaryville, Indiana. After living on this land for three years, Mr. Willson came to Flora in 1888, having exchanged a part of the land for a general store in Flora. Here he continued in business under the firm name of Willson & Horner until 1905, when he retired from the firm. Since retiring, he has been engaged almost exclusively in looking after his various property interests.
Miss Lizzie Golliday, to whom Mr. Willson was married first, died within fifteen months after their marriage. At the same time an infant son also died. Mr. Willson was next married to Mary J. Beckwith, of Peru, Indiana, in 1864. She was born in Jackson county, Ohio, and bore her husband two daughters, Minnie I. and Jessie G. Minnie I. was edu- cated in the public schools of Peru, Indiana, and is now the wife of Frank C. Horner, of Flora. Jessie G. died at the age of twenty-three years.
Mr. and Mrs. Willson are members of the Methodist church. He is a member of the official board, of which he is president. For more than twenty years he served as superintendent of the Flora Sunday school and has been active in church work all his life.
Fraternally, Mr. Willson is a member of Flora Lodge No. 506, Free and Accepted Masons. He was a charter member of the lodge at Mexico,
Digitized by Google
266
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Indiana, and is a past master of the lodge at Flora. A Republican in pol- itics, Mr. Willson served as postmaster of Mexico for seven years. He is a quiet man, of temperate habits, and is highly respected by all of the citizens of Flora and Vicinity.
SELL S. DOTY.
Farmer, county surveyor, civil engineer and postmaster of Delphi- such in brief is the record of Sell S. Doty, a native of Carroll county and one of the best-known citizens of the county. Before he engaged in farm- ing, however, he was engaged for some four years in educational work in Carroll county, having previously received a liberal education in one of the country's leading normal schools. As postmaster of Delphi since June 1, 1915, he has given to the people of Delphi, the patrons of the Delphi public postoffice, a most capable and efficient administration and is popular not only in the rank of the Democratic party with which he is affiliated politic- ally but with all classes of people, regardless of parties.
Sell S. Doty was born in Clay township, Carroll county, Indiana, on April 6, 1867. Mr. Doty's parents, Robert and Louisa (Felthoff) Doty were natives of Ohio and of Pennsylvania, respectively. They were farm- ers by occupation. Robert Doty having come to Carroll county from the Buckeye state when he was a boy. Here he grew to manhood and, upon reaching maturity, engaged in farming. He died in 1879 at the age of fifty years. His wife had died about nine years previously at the age of thirty- six. They were devoted members of the New Light church. Of the ten children born to Robert and Louisa (Felthoff ) Doty, three died early in life. Joseph resides at Flora, Indiana; Sarah is the wife of George Harner, of Radnor; Robert died when a young man; Alvin lives in Boone county ; Augustus lives at Flora; Sell S. is the subject of this sketch; Jennie is the wife of Frank Strange. of Frankfort, Indiana.
Reared on a farm and educated in the district schools of Clay town- ship, Sell .S. Doty later became a student at the Northern Indiana Normal School, at Valparaiso, Indiana, and afterward taught school for four years. In the meantime, he purchased the farm of one hundred and ten acres which he still owns. In 1908 Mr. Doty, having been elected to the office of county surveyor for a term of four years, removed from the farm to Delphi. Upon the expiration of his term in 1912 he was engaged in civil engineering for
Digitized by Google
267
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
about two years, but. in. 1914 received the appoinment from President Wil- son as postmaster in Delphi. Mr. Doty took his office on June 1, 1915.
On October 31, 1894, Sell S. Doty was married to Emma B. Squire, the daughter of David and Huldah (Grant) Squire, who has borne him three children, Ruby, Russell and C. Clay. Ruby died at the age of seven- ·teen days and Russell at the age of eleven days.
Mrs. Doty is a native of Illinois, her father a native of Ohio, and her mother of Indiana. The mother died in 1895 and since this time her father has lived with the Doty family. David and Huldah (Grant). Squire had three children, Jolie, George G. and Emma. Mrs. Doty's paternal grand- father was Ezekiel Squire, a native of Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Doty are members of the New Light Christian church. Mr. Doty is a member of Mt. Olive Lodge No. 48, Free and Accepted Masons; of Delphi Chapter No. 22, Royal Arch Mason; and of Delphi Commandery No. 40, Knights Templar; and of Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to Delphi Lodge No. 28, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of Delphi Lodge No. 80, Knights of Pythias. He belongs to the uniform rank Knights of Pythias, No. 86. Mrs. Doty is a member of the Daughters of Rebekah and the Order of the Eastern Star.
GEORGE M. SMITH.
For more than a decade George M. Smith has been identified with the legal profession of Carroll county, Indiana, and during the past four years has been a member of the Delphi bar, being at the present time the secre- tary of The Abstract Company, the leading title firm of Delphi and Carroll county. Not only is he one of the able and successful lawyers of Carroll county, but he is likewise one of its prominent citizens. As a citizen he is public-spirited and enterprising; as a friend and neighbor he combines the . qualities of head and heart which have won for him the confidence and esteem of the people of this county. His success as a lawyer is only the result of using the talents with which he has been endowed, of directing his energies along well-defined paths, of fair dealing with the public.
George M. Smith is a native of Starke county, Indiana, born near Round Lake, May 16, 1873, his parents having been natives of the Buckeye and the Keystone states, respectively. His father, Truman M. Smith, was born in Darke county, Ohio, and his mother, who, before her marriage, was
-
Digitized by Google
268
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Almira Justice, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Truman M. Smith was a farmer by occupation, who emigrated to Indiana in 1838, and lived in Whitley county until 1854, when he removed to Starke county. He was a soldier in the Civil War and served throughout the war as a private in the One Hundred and Fifty-first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After the close of the war he resumed farming in Starke county, and in 1892 retired from the active work of the farm and removed to Knox, Indiana, where he and his good wife now live. They are the parents of six chil- dren, of whom Edward J., the eldest, is deceased; Hattie M., the wife of Howard Lee, lives in Bisbee, Arizona; George M., the immediate subject of this review; Frances M. is the wife of Elmer E. Rogers, the editor of the Warren County Republican, of Williamsport, Indiana; Oscar B., an attorney of Knox, Indiana; Ora D., a rural mail carrier out of North Jud- son, Indiana.
Born on a farm near Round Lake, Indiana, George M. Smith lived at home on the farm until he was twenty-eight years old, having in the mean- time received a liberal education in the public schools of Starke county, at Valparaiso University, and at Indiana University. He was graduated from Valparaiso University in 1892, and three years later from Indiana Uni- versity, receiving from Indiana the degree of Doctor of Laws. In the mean- time he had taught school for eight years in Starke and adjoining counties. The year after his graduation from Indiana University he was admitted to the bar at Knox, Indiana, and after practicing at the latter place for two years, removed to Indianapolis, where he was in the active practice of law for eight years. In 1904 Mr. Smith removed to Flora, Carroll county. Indi- ana, where he practiced until the spring of 1911, when he removed to Deiphi, and here he has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession, being especially prominent as expert in titles and abstracts.
On June 9, 1896, George M. Smith was married to Sophia A. Sheibal, of Bass Lake, Starke county, Indiana, and to this union there have been born three children: Dean, who is sixteen years old, is a senior in the Delphi school and a member of the Delphi band; Ethel M., aged fourteen, . is a junior in the high school, and Catherine Almira, the youngest of the family, aged six years.
Mr. Smith has always been more or less prominent in politics, and is identified with the Republican party. While a resident of Flora he served as a member of the school board. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and has risen to the rank of Royal Arch Mason at Delphi. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Smith and
.
Digitized by Google
269
CARROLI. COUNTY, INDIANA.
family are members of the Methodist church, in which they are actively interested.
Mr. Smith lives in a picturesque home on the edge of the city of Delphi, where he entertains his many friends in a hospitable manner, he and his estimable wife being prominent in the social life of Delphi and Carroll county.
WILLIAM WIGGS.
Among the well-known merchants of Clay township, Carroll county, Indiana, is William Wiggs, who operates a general store at Owasco.
Mr. Wiggs is a native of Clinton county, Indiana, having been born on January 25, 1877. He is the son of James and Sarah (Cripe) Wiggs, the former of whom was born in the Buckeye state and the latter a native of Clinton county, Indiana. They were married in Clinton county and had five children, three of whom are living, Anna, who was the wife of H. L. Black, died at Delphi in July, 1906; William, the subject of this sketch; Lillie, the wife of Jesse Craig, of Bringhurst; Hester, the wife of Virgil Kingery, of Glendale, Arizona; and Effie, who was the wife of Junius Spurgeon, of Cambria, Clinton county, died there in 1910. James Wiggs, the father of these children, died in 1885 and his widow afterward married, in Clinton county, J. P. Ulery, and in 1891 moved to Clay township, Car- roll county, Indiana. To this second union have been born two sons, Harry, who is at home, and Walter, who lives in Arizona.
James Wiggs was a farmer by occupation and followed that vocation in Clinton county, Indiana. He was a member of the Christian church and a great worker in the church as was also his wife until her second marriage, when she became a member of the Dunkard church. James Wiggs was a stanch Republican. Mrs. Sarah (Cripe) Wiggs Ulery died on October 28, 19II.
William Wiggs was educated in the common schools of Clay township and at Pyrmont. He also attended the normal school at Danville, Indiana, and the Indiana Business College at Indianapolis. Since he was eight years old Mr. Wiggs has been making his own way in the world. He worked in a store for two years in Indianapolis and for five years at Pyrmont. He also worked two years in a general store in Owen county and seven years in a general store at Clarks Hill, Tippecanoe county. He. owned a half interest in the store, which was operated under the name of Wiggs & Rusk.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.