USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County Indiana : From its earliest settlement to the present time with biographical sketches and reference to biographies previously compiled, Volume II > Part 11
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Charles W. Graves received his education in the common and high schools of Richmond. When he was about sixteen years old he began clerking in a grocery store in his home town, and later was employed as a bookkeeper. He then became a clerk in the railroad office at Rich-
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mond, his older brother, George C., being chief clerk at that time, in the employ of the Columbus, Cincinnati and Indiana Central Railroad, which later became the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway. When the chief of the office moved to Logansport, in 1881, he offered Mr. Graves the position of chief clerk, which he promptly accepted and accordingly came to Logansport to fill the position, as- suming the duties of his new office in January, 1882. Since that time Logansport has been his home. Two years later Mr. Graves was made chief clerk and private secretary in the office of the division superin- tendent, which he retained until 1894, when he resigned and bought an interest in the Logansport Journal, of which he became business man- ager. He was thus associated for about two years, when he bought the Giffe Book & Music Store, and this establishment he has conducted ever since, moving to his present quarters, No. 417 Broadway, in July, 1908.
In 1900 or thereabouts, Mr. Graves was the organizer of what was known as the Logansport Co-operative Association, of which he was elected president. This was brought into existence to correct the abuses that had grown up in the commercial district with regard to premium giving, trading stamps, prizes, discounts, etc. Thousands of dollars were lost to the general business men of the city, and many of the smaller houses were forced to the edge of bankruptcy by the unfair methods then in vogue. The Logansport Co-operative Association had a precarious existence at the start, and owing to the fact of the trouble being so firmly entrenched in the general system, only the steadfast courage of those at the helm enabled them to finally stamp out the seeds of the scourge. Mr. Graves was also active in the organization of the Citizens' Natural Gas Company, of which he was elected secretary. This was in about 1891, and the company was organized to check abuses then in vogne by the concerns that at that period had charge of the distribution of the natural gas. He has also been identified with the various commercial clubs and movements that have had as their object the betterment of conditions existing in Logansport and the surround- ing community, and has in all these various associations done most ex- cellent and praiseworthy work in behalf of the city.
Mr. Graves is a Republican, with progressive tendencies, and is also an active worker in the temperance cause. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church, of which he has been an official for years, and he is now elder and clerk of the session. He is also identified with the work of the Sunday school, and is a member of the board of directors of the Indiana Sunday School Association.
On October 18, 1888, Mr. Graves was united in marriage with Miss Anna Lucy Wright, the daughter of Williamson Wright, a pioneer of Cass county.
ANDREW J. MURDOCK. In ability as a financier and in general busi- ness affairs, Cass county had no stronger character or one better known among all classes than the late Andrew Jackson Murdock, for many years president of the First National Bank of Logansport. In the broader fields of citizenship, as well as in business, he performed a large scope of useful service which has properly identified him for all time with
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the history of this locality. Mr. Murdock was a type and example of one who succeeds in life, though his youth was passed in comparative poverty, and with only such advantages as he could procure by his own labors and ambitions.
The late Andrew J. Murdock was born in Livingston county, New York, November 19, 1827. The first eight years of his life were spent in his native state, and he then accompanied the family to Michigan. Michigan, during the thirties, was almost on the frontier, and the best settled regions were but a field for hardships and privations of pioneer existence. It was amid such scenes and with such limitations in advan- tages of education and otherwise that Andrew J. Murdock was reared. At the age of thirteen he was thrown upon his own resources, and from that forward depended entirely upon his own exertions for his advance- ment.
In 1853, Mr. Murdock became a resident of Logansport, so that he had identified himself with this city at an early period in its growth, and at a time when his vigorous enterprise and honorable character were important elements in the development as a city along the lines which have made it conspicuous among the larger centers in northern Indiana. A year after his arrival in this city, he engaged in business on his own account, opening a store, with which his name was connected for twenty- four years. He had a trade which few other merchants in the city and county could equal, and throughout his lifetime, enjoyed the confidence and good will of all with whom he came in contact. His business inter- ests gradually extended, by investments and otherwise, and in 1865 he was made a director of the Logansport National Bank, and in 1878 was elected its president. Five years later this bank was consolidated with the First National Bank, of which Mr. Murdock was chosen president, and this position he filled with splendid executive ability up to the time of his death, May 3, 1905. In the field of practical finance, as well as in his judgment of men, which is an element just as essential to the suc- cess of a financier as his more technical expertness in financial opera- tions, Mr. Murdock was recognized as one of the strongest representa- tives in Cass county. Among the varied interests owned by Mr. Mur- dock was the fine tract of land, consisting of more than three hundred acres lying between Logansport and the park on either side of the Elec- tric railway.
Though a man whose influence in business and civic affairs of Logans- port, was for many years conspicuous, Mr. Murdock was a citizen who was never in the public eye, as the general sense of that term is under- stood, and modesty was his chief characteristic. He was always a Re- publican in good standing, and supported the party candidates and prin- ciples, though never seeking office for himself. His contributions and support were accorded to nearly every important enterprise of public nature in Logansport for thirty or forty years, yet his name appeared less frequently than that of many whose active support was less. On August 4, 1862, Mr. Murdock was married, and his home and family always represented the chief sphere of his leisure activities. He wedded Maggie C. Chadwick, of Newark, New Jersey, daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Pickles) Chadwick. Their three children are: May, wife of
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Samuel Patterson ; Flora, wife of Samuel Emmet Mulholland; Gertrude, wife of Edward H. Donovan. Mr. Murdock attended the First Presby- terian church, being a prominent contributor thereto, and he built the Murdock Hotel. The Murdock home was one of the social centers of Logansport, and the family have always been among the most representa- tive of this city.
MOSES B. LAIRY. In the roster of those who have gained prominence at the Cass county bench and bar, are to be found many eminent names, none of which, however, have stood out in greater relief than that of the Hon. Moses Barnett Lairy, Judge of the Appellate Court, who has gained an enviable distinction through the medium of his great ex- perience, his great good sense, his stainless integrity, his perfect im- partiality, his wide discernment and his abundant learning. A worthy representative of a family that for years has been identified with the commercial, agricultural, professional and public interests of the county, he early entered upon a legal career, and so ably has he directed his activities that today he is recognized as one of his State's leading jurists. Judge Lairy was born in Harrison township, Cass county, Indiana, August 13, 1859.
Daniel Lairy, the paternal grandfather of Judge Lairy, was born in Ohio, and as a young man became a pioneer to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, settling within its borders when that section was almost an unbroken wilderness and there spending the rest of his life. Thomas Lairy, son of Daniel, and father of Judge Lairy, was born in Butler county, Ohio, January 20, 1807. As early as 1837 he entered land from the government in Harrison township, Cass county, but did not move to this property until many years later. He had accompanied his parents to Tippecanoe county in his boyhood, and was reared to man- hood among pioneer scenes, receiving his early training in the hard work of plowing, planting and cultivating the fields. Subsequently, he moved to LaFayette, where for a number of years he was engaged in carpentering. Mr. Lairy was married (first) to Belinda Miller, who died without issue, and his second union was to Mrs. Eliza (Barnett) Thornburgh, daughter of Moses Barnett, a pioneer of the county. While a resident of LaFayette Mr. Lairy belonged to the militia, and served in a company during the Black Hawk war. He was a member of the Christian church, in the faith of which he died January 11, 1877, his widow surviving him a long time and passing away May 14, 1892. They had two children : Moses B. and John S.
Moses Barnett Lairy was reared on the Cass county farm which his father had entered from the government, and attended the district schools of Harrison township until he was seventeen years of age, at that time being compelled to give up his studies to operate the home farm, his father having died. Later he spent one term in the Northern Indiana Normal School, and then began teaching school in the winter terms, his summers being spent on the home farm. His first experience as an educator was at Fletchers Lake schoolhouse, just across the line in Fulton county, and in all taught for about nine years, carefully saving his earnings that he might further his own studies in the Vol. II-6
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Northern Indiana Normal School. During the last years of his school teaching experience, he took up the study of law under the direction of Judge Dudley H. Case, and in 1888 entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated with the class of 1889. Succeeding this, in September of the same year, he began practice in Logansport, alone, but four years later became associated with DeWitt C. Justice. For fourteen years he also maintained a professional partnership with M. F. Mahoney. A Democrat in politics and an active worker in his party's interests, as his abilities became recognized his name began to be mentioned for judicial honors, and in 1894 he was made his party's candidate for the judgeship of the Cass county circuit court. Political conditions at that time, however, caused his defeat with the others on the ticket. On April 1, 1905, he was appointed by Gov. Matthews to fill the unexpired term of Judge D. B. McConnell, resigned, and on completing his term of twenty months was succeeded by Judge D. H. Case. His election to the Appellate bench occurred in 1910, since which time he has continued to faithfully and capably discharge the duties of his high office, maintaining the dig- nity and best traditions thereof and being known as a fair and impartial judge. Fraternally, he is connected with the Masons and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks.
On April 14, 1892, Judge Lairy was married to Miss Mazetta Rogers, daughter of Thomas B. Rogers, of Logansport, she having been for some years a teacher in the public schools of the city. They attend the First Presbyterian church.
HON. JOHN S. LAIRY. Occupying a position of high credit and dis- tinction among the leaders of the legal profession in Cass county, Hon. John S. Lairy, judge of the twenty-ninth judicial district, has, during a long and useful career, exemplified the best type of American citizen- ship. As a lawyer, he early took a foremost position among the practi- tioners of the Logansport bar, his gifts as a speaker and his capacity for close, logical reasoning making him a peculiarly forceful and ef- fective advocate. As a judge he has made a record that holds out a stimulus and example to all men who are called upon to bear the high responsibilities of a place upon the bench. The sound judgment, the well-balanced judicial mind; the intellectual honesty and freedom from bias which are required in a judge-these attributes have been all his and have enabled him not only to give opinions which are widely quoted, but to maintain the best traditions of the judicial office. Judge Lairy was born in Harrison township. Cass county, Indiana, September 7, 1864, and is a son of Thomas and Eliza (Barnett) (Thornburgh) Lairy.
Judge Lairy belongs to an old and honored family which originated in Ireland, and the American progenitor of which came to this country in 1727, soldiers of the name fighting in the Colonial army during the War of the Revolution. Daniel Lairy, the paternal grandfather of Judge Lairy, was born in Ohio, and some time after his marriage made removal to what was then the wilderness of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, the rest of his life being spent in clearing and cultivating a farm. Thomas Lairy, son of Daniel, and father of Judge Lairy, was born
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January 20, 1807, in Butler county, Ohio, and as a lad was taken to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, where he was reared amid pioneer scenes. Later, he moved to LaFayette, where he was engaged in carpentering, and while residing in that locality, pre-empted land from the Govern- ment in Harrison township, Cass county, for $1.25 an acre, although he did not settle thereon until during the fifties. The rest of his life was spent in farming, and his death occurred January 11, 1877, in the faith of the Christian church, of which he was a life-long member. While a resident of LaFayette, he was a member of the state militia, and served with a company during the Blackhawk war. Mr. Lairy married (first) Belinda Miller, who died without issue, and his second union was with Mrs. Eliza (Barnett) Thornburg, daughter of Moses Barnett, a pioneer of Cass county. Mrs. Lairy passed away May 14, 1892, having been the mother of two sons: Moses Barnett, judge of the appellate court; and John S.
John S. Lairy was reared on the home farm and secured his early education in the common schools and the American Normal School, at Logansport. He then spent several years in teaching school, in the meantime devoting himself to the study of law, and in 1895 and 1896 attended the law school of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he was gradnated in 1896 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In August of that year he entered upon the practice of his profession in Logansport, which city has been his home to the present time. Shortly after beginning practice, Judge Lairy served two years as deputy state's attorney, his services in the discharge of the duties of this office bring- ing him favorably before the public. In 1900 he became the Democratic candidate for the office of judge of the twenty-ninth judicial district, and was subsequently elected, taking office in 1902. He was reelected in 1906, and in 1912 again became the candidate of his party for re- election. Judge Lairy has shown himself a worthy member of the .Indiana bench, the soundness and equity of his decisions having never been questioned. A hard student and a man of high scholarship, with a well-poised mind, and ever ready with his legal knowledge, his opin- ions have been widely quoted, and he has not only attained a position of prominence in the field of jurisprudence, but his business and per- sonal excellencies have made him a leader of worth and sagacity. He has interested himself in fraternal work to some extent, being a member of the Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose, in all of which he has numerous warm friends.
On July 17, 1912, Judge Lairy was united in marriage with Miss Ica Campbell, whose home was in Logansport.
BENJAMIN F. KEESLING is of Indiana nativity, his birth occurring at Mechanicsburg, in Henry county, on February 18, 1850. Mechanics- burg might well have been named Keesling, for here, in 1828, came Peter Keesling, with George, John, Jacob and Daniel, all brothers, and each of these brothers married in the course of time, and each reared a large family. So numerous did they become in that vicinity that practically every person one met either bore the name of Keesling, or was related to the family by marriage. Originally the family came to America from Germany and for generations lived in Virginia. With the
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spirit of the pioneers, members of the family moved to Ohio, and from there moved to Indiana and settled at what is now Mechanicsburg.
John Keesling, the grandfather of Benjamin F., built his log cabin in the woods from growing timber and there passed some time in grub- bing, clearing, planting and harvesting, the regular routine of the pioneer farmer. He subsequently built a farm house. One of his sons, Peter Keesling, the father of Benjamin F., was married to Margaret Loy, who become the mother of ten children. Peter Keesling, like most of the others of his name, was thrifty and industrious and possessed of the necessary courage to fight the battle of life to a successful issue, even under the adverse conditions of those primitive days.
Benjamin F. Keesling was born in Henry county, February 18, 1850. Growing up on the farm he learned all that could be taught him of farm life, and hard, continuous work was the portion of his youthful days. After attending the neighboring schools he went to the graded schools at New Castle. When about twenty years of age he began clerking in a general store at the latter named place, but in April, 1874, came to Logansport and associated himself with Dr. John Needham in the drug trade. A few years later he bought the interest of Dr. Needham in the business and continued in it alone until 1900, when the property was destroyed by fire. The ensuing four years he was in Boston and Pitts- burg, then returned to Logansport and in December, 1907, bought the Metzger Brothers' interest in the Logansport Daily Journal. With his son, Arthur R., the Logansport Daily and Weekly Journal flourished until October, 1912. when it was consolidated with the Tribune, and is now the Journal-Tribune. Under the new arrangement, Mr. Keesling became a stockholder and is the present secretary-treasurer of the cor- poration.
Mr. Keesling is a Republican, and in 1892 was elected treasurer of Cass county, being the only successful nominee on his ticket. On Febru- ary 18, 1875, Mr. Keesling married Anna B. MeCune, of Middletown, Indiana, and one son, Arthur R., was born to them. Mrs. Keesling is a member of the Methodist church.
JACOB SELLERS. For sixty years a resident of Cass county, during fifty-five of which he has made his home in Logansport, Jacob Sellers is entitled to a position among the representative men of his city not only for the length of time which he has spent within its borders, but also as a citizen who has continuonsly had the best interests of his com- munity at heart. Mr. Sellers has devoted the greater part of his time to the cultivation of the soil and to attention to his duties in the railroad shops, but he has never been so engrossed in his own affairs that he has not found time to lend his interest and support to those movements which he believes will benefit his adopted city or its people. Mr. Sel- lers was born August 15, 1834, in Wittenburg, Germany, in what is widely known as the Black Forest. His father, Michael Sellers, was a baker by trade and died in the old country, his widow, who bore the maiden name of Katherine Cook, married (second) Gottlieb Frick, and the family emigrated to the United States in 1847, and located at Buffalo, New York, where they lived five years. In the spring of 1853 the family came to Cass county, Indiana, and located four miles east of Logansport,
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where Mr. Frick found employment working for Thomas Green, who operated a large forge there, and succeeding this went to what is known as the "Indian Reserve" in Washington township. They moved to Logansport three years later, and here both Mr. and Mrs. Frick passed away.
Jacob Sellers was thirteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States, and his education was confined to a few terms in the common schools. The greater part of his life has been passed in farming and working in the railroad shops, and his success has been due to well-applied energy, ambition and perseverance, in connection with integrity of the strictest order. While so doing he has gained and maintained the entire confidence of his fellow-citizens, who have recognized in him a man of general worth and probity of char- acter. Mr. Sellers was married June 20, 1867, to Miss Fredericka Adler, daughter of Christopher Adler, who was a native of Austria and came to the United States in 1853. Mr. Adler died on his farm near Winamac, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Sellers six children have been born, as fol- lows: Carrie C., who became the wife of Edward Hanke; Edward D., a sketch of whose life will be found in another part of this work; Charles J .; Mamie, who married Manuel Connor and is now deceased; Frank F .; and Emma L., who became the wife of Clarence Ammons, and is a resident of Logansport.
Early in 1865, Mr. Sellers enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil war, becoming a member of Company C, One Hundred Fifty-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Owing to the war being practically over, he was detailed to do guard duty until peace was declared, when he received his honorable discharge and returned to the duties of private citizenship.
EDWARD D. SELLERS. Among the prosperous establishments of Logansport, one which started in a modest manner and has enjoyed a rapid and continuous growth is the clothing and furnishing business of Helvie & Sellers, composed of Samuel S. Helvie and Edward D. Sellers. The junior member of this partnership has been engaged in this line of endeavor ever since boyhood, and has brought to his work a bound- less enthusiasm, coupled with wide experience, natural business ability and inherent integrity which has gained him the confidence of his patrons and fellow-citizens. Edward D. Sellers is a native of Logans- port, and was born July 4, 1871, a son of Jacob and Fredericka (Adler) Sellers.
Jacob Sellers was born August 15, 1834, in the Black Forest, Witten- berg, Germany, and is a son of Michael and Katherine (Cook) Sellers, the former of whom, a baker by trade, died in Germany, while the latter married (second) Gottlieb Frick, and emigrated to the United States in 1847. First locating at Buffalo, New York, the family spent five years in that city, and in the spring of 1853 came to Cass county, Indiana, and settled four miles east of Logansport, where Mr. Frick found em- ployment with Thomas Green, the proprietor of a forge. Later, they went to what is known as the "Indian Reserve," in Washington town- ship, but three years later moved to Logansport, and there both Mr. and Mrs. Frick passed away. Jacob Sellers was thirteen years of age when
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he accompanied his parents to this country, and his education was secured in the common schools, in which he passed a few terms. He has passed the greater part of his life in agricultural pursuits and in working in the railroad shops, and has been uniformly successful in his ventures. On June 20, 1867, he was married to Miss Fredericka Adler, daughter of Christopher Adler, who was a native of Austria and came to the United States in 1853, dying on a farm near Winamac, Indiana. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sellers: Carrie C., who married Edward Hanke; Edward D .; Charles J .; Mamie, who married Manuel Connor and is now deceased; Frank F .; and Emma L., who became the wife of Clarence Ammons, and lives in Logansport. The father of these children fought valiantly in the Union army during the Civil war.
Edward D. Sellers received his education in the public schools of Logansport, and at the age of sixteen years commenced upon his business career as a clerk in the clothing store of Harry Frank, with whom he remained for five years. Succeeding this, for two years he clerked for Joseph Grace, and in 1896, in partnership with Samuel S. Helvie, he embarked in the clothing and furnishings business under the firm style of Helvie & Sellers, an association that has continued to the present time. The firm has enjoyed a healthy growth, and now has a large trade, embracing some of the best business in Logansport. Mr. Sellers is a young man of the highest business integrity, with a reputation for straightforward and honorable dealings. He has been industrious and enterprising, and has never failed to take advantage of modern ideas and methods. In politics he was formerly a Republican, but since 1912 has been allied with the new Progressive party. His fraternal connec- tion is with the Masons.
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