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 3
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In 1853 Mr. Taylor married Florilla Miner, and three children were born to them, of whom a daughter, Flora M., and a son, Jay D., are now living. The mother of these children died, and in 1865 Mr. Taylor mar- ried Florilla A. (Doty) Taylor, a daughter of William Doty and the widow of his brother, T. Doty Taylor.
The life of Raymond C. Taylor was practically uneventful, as great events are considered, but his career as a man in Logansport was with- out blemish, and he died as he had lived,-secure in the high esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances who knew him as a man and a citizen, and valued him for his many splendid traits of heart and mind.
JAY D. TAYLOR, the son of the late Raymond C. Taylor, of Logans- port, Indiana, was born at Cayuga county, New York, on July 27, 1860. When Jay Taylor was eleven years old he decided to come west and join his father, and he accordingly went quietly about converting his worldly goods, which comprised a hog, some grain and other farm produce he had earned, into coin of the realm, and this accomplished, he started for Logansport, Indiana, without going through the formality of asking advice or permission. By husbanding his slender resources, and not being too fastidious as to his mode of travel, the boy was able to reach Logansport without undue annoyance in a financial way, and when he appeared before his father in Logansport, that gentleman forthwith took charge of the young adventurer, placing him in school where he con- tinued until he was graduated from the high school. He was then six- teen years old, and he set about learning the jeweler's trade in Logans- port. He was employed variously in the jewelry business with W. S. Orwin, B. Z. Lewis, H. C. Eversole, and D. A. Hawk. In 1889 he bought the store of Z. B. Lewis, located on Market street, but four months later succeeded to the business of another of the men by whom he had for- merly been employed, namely,-H. C. Eversole, at No. 309 Fourth street. Since then he has continuously carried on his business at this place, en- joying something better than a fair degree of success. In addition to the general jewelry business, he carries a complete line of optical goods, and that he may intelligently and scientifically serve his patrons, he has taken special instruction of Dr. King, at Cleveland, Ohio, the Chi- cago Ophthalmic College of Chicago, and the South Bend College of Ophthalmics.
Mr. Taylor is a Democrat, a Knight Templar of the Masonic fra- ternity, a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of the Maccabees. He was married on February 19, 1890, to Miss Loraine Ridinger, of Logansport, and one son has been born to them,-Raymond Carl Taylor, named in honor of his paternal grandfather, and who is employed by his father.
DUDLEY H. CHASE
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
HON. DUDLEY H. CHASE. The life of every public man possesses in- terest to his fellow citizens, partcularly if his abilities have elevated him to honorable office in which he has displayed honest effort and fidelity in the performance of its responsibilities. Pre-eminently is this true when judicial position is involved, and especially is interest excited when the subject is so well known and honored a man as the late Hon. Dudley H. Chase, whose character as a man, whose high attainments as a lawyer, whose dignity as a jurist, and whose signal services in both military and civil life, gained him a place among Cass county's citizens that will long be difficult to fill. Judge Chase was born in the city in which he afterwards gained such high distinction in professional circles, Logans- port, August 29, 1837, and was a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Donald- son) Chase.
Henry Chase was born at Greenfield Center, Saratoga county, New York, in 1800, a descendant of a family that came with a party of colon- ists from Bristol, England, and settled in the region of Massachusetts during the early history of the American Colonies. In 1827 he made a visit to Delphi, Indiana, and was here admitted to the bar, but one year later moved to Adams county, Mississippi, where he practiced law for four years. He returned to Delphi in 1832 and from that place, one year later, came to Logansport, where he continued to carry on an extensive practice. He was judge of the then Eighth Judicial District in 1839, having been appointed to that office to complete an unexpired term, but in 1844 moved to New York City, which was the scene of his legal activities for five years. From the latter city he made removal to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and there in 1854 passed away, a victim of the great cholera plague which swept the Wisconsin city during that year.
At the time of the death of his mother, Judge Dudley H. Chase made his home with an uncle, William Chase, in Logansport, and here his primary education was secured. In 1856 he was appointed a cadet at West Point Military Academy, by the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, but before entering actively upon his studies he went west, and bore a conspicuous part in the Kansas troubles of 1856, rendering valiant service as a member of Sharp's Rifle Company. On his return to Logansport, he again took up his law studies, entering the office of the Hon. D. D. Pratt, and in 1858 was graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. He at once began practicing in Logansport, in partnership with his former preceptor, although later he was engaged in individual practice, and thus the outbreak of the Civil war found him. As early as 1854, Mr. Chase had become captain of an independent local military company, known as the "Logan Grays," and in April, 1861, this organization of- fered itself for service in defense of the flag, Judge Chase fully equip- ping the company entirely at his own expense. It was accepted by the recruiting officers, and soon became Company K, Ninth Regiment, In- diana Volunteer Infantry. For a time Judge Chase was engaged in recruiting in Maine, taking with him fifty-two Indiana volunteers, and this was then organized into Company A, Second Battalion, Seventeenth United States Infantry, joining the Fifth Army Corps in front of Fredericksburg, immediately after the engagement at that point. Sub- sequently Judge Chase participated in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and on July 2, 1863, was seriously wounded in the hip
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by a shell. He was then employed in help quelling the draft riots in New York City, but when he had entirely recuperated from his injury, he returned to the field and took part in engagements at Rappahannock and Bristow Station, as well as the Mine Run campaign. Mr. Chase was forced to resign his commission on account of his wounds, and Feb- ruary 4, 1864 left the service with an enviable record for bravery and gallantry. Returning to Logansport, he resumed the practice of his chosen profession, and in that same year was elected prosecuting at- torney, later being re-elected in 1866 and again in 1868. In 1872 he was sent to the bench for six years, and was re-elected in 1878, but in 1884 declined to be a candidate. However, in 1896, he was elected judge of the Twenty-ninth Judicial Circuit, and as such was serving at the time of his death, July 2, 1902. As a lawyer, Judge Chase ranked among the ablest in Indiana; as a jurist his decisions were marked by such fairness and so complete a knowledge of jurisprudence that compara- tively few were appealed and none were ever reversed. He took a great interest in the work of the Grand Army of the Republic, his local con- nection being with Logansport Post No. 14, and was also a member of the Indiana Commandery of the Loyal Legion. He belonged to the Odd Fellows, and on a number of occasions served as eminent commander of St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar, of the Masonic fraternity. The loss of such a man, standing for honest government and for effi- ciency in all measures pertaining to the city's welfare-of a man who contributed to the city's upbuilding during his entire residence here, and who entertained and illustrated the highest ideal of good citizen- ship, is no ordinary loss. Such men are not so plentiful that their passing away is a matter of only current interest.
On October 28, 1859, Judge Chase was married (first) to Maria Durett, whose father was one of the founders of Logansport, and she died April 12, 1877, after bearing five children, namely : William ; Rob- ert, who is deceased; John; George and Mary. On December 7, 1880, Judge Chase's second marriage occurred, when he was united with Grace M. Corey, of Saratoga Springs, New York, she being a member of the Schuyler family, of Colonial fame. To this marriage there were born four children : Charles D., Ruth, James and Louise.
Charles D. Chase is the only male representative of his father's family in Logansport, and now makes his home with his mother and is engaged in the undertaking business. He was born September 27, 1882, was educated in the publie schools, and graduated from the Myers School of Embalming, at Columbus, in May, 1903. He is a member of Oriental lodge No. 272, F. & A. M .; Bridge City lodge No. 305, Knights of Pythias; Logan lodge No. 40, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Logansport lodge No. 66, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political convictions are those of the Republican party, and his religious connection with the Market Street Methodist Episcopal church.
EDGAR F. METZGER was born in Miama county, Indiana, on December 23, 1872, a son of David L. Metzger, who came to Cass county in about 1885, and was a farmer in Clay township. He is now a resident of Indi- anapolis. He is a veteran of the Civil war. Edgar F. Metzger was reared in the counties of Cass and Miami and received his education in
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the public and high schools. Until he was eighteen he lived on a farm, after which he taught in the country schools of Cass county during two terms, and then began his newspaper career as a reporter on the Logans- port Reporter. He continued with the Reporter in various capacities until 1902, when he acquired an interest in the Journal, with which he continued to be associated until 1907, when he disposed of his interest and with his brother, Harry C., founded the Logansport Tribune. In 1912 the Journal and the Tribune were consolidated and Mr. Metzger is now the president of the Journal-Tribune Company.
Mr. Metzger has no fraternal affiliations beyond his membership in the Elks. He is married.
JOHN W. BARNES, one of the owners and editors of the Logansport Pharos, was born in the city of Muncie, Indiana, July 7, 1855. His father, William Barnes, was a contractor and builder and a native of Pennsylvania. He married Evaline Wachtell, a native of Maryland, at Muncie.
It was in the schools of his native city that John W. Barnes was primarily educated. When nineteen years of age he began learning the "art preservative" on the Muncie Democrat, but two years later became connected with the Liberal Republican, a paper established for the sup- port of Horace Greeley for the presidency. During the campaign of 1876 and until 1878 he was employed on the Democrat, at Anderson, but in the latter year came to Logansport and began work on the Pharos. From that time until the present, a period of thirty-five years, Mr. Barnes has been identified with this paper. In 1881 he purchased a half-interest in the Pharos, and with Benjamin F. Louthain, the owner of the other half, has since controlled the destiny of the oldest estab- lished Democratic newspaper in Cass county.
On September 30, 1885, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage with Miss Emma Grable, daughter of Jonathan and Hester Grable, residents of Cass county.
HENRY JAMES MCSHEEHY. Among the men who have brought fame to Logansport as a center of journalistic activity, the late Henry James MeSheehy, for thirty-seven years editor and proprietor of the Logans- port Weekly Chronicle, held a position of prestige. A native of Ireland, having been born in Anniscaul, County Kerry, January 28, 1852; he was brought to the United States in boyhood by his parents, and here re- ceived his education in the public schools of the city of New York, and at Lafayette, Indiana, graduating from the high school of the latter place with the highest honors in a class of sixty-eight pupils. On leav- ing school Mr. McSheehy became purser of the steamship "The City of Richmond," running from New York to Liverpool, and in this connec- tion became marine reporter for the New York Herald, which started him upon his journalistic career. In those days pressboats were sent out to meet all incoming ships and Mr. McSheehy's duty consisted in going aboard these vessels and secure stories and anecdotes from the passengers and crew.
In 1875 Mr. MeSheehy was appointed by his paper to accompany Col. Robert Ingersoll on his lecture tour and while acting in this serv-
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ice he came to Logansport, and, noting the possibilities for a good news- paper here, immediately wired his resignation to New York and began plans for the establishment of the Chronicle. This paper made its initial appearance April 7, 1875, and has continued to enjoy a full meas- ure of success to the present time. Since Mr. McSheehy's death, which occurred February 21, 1911, in Logansport, the Chronicle has been pub- lished under the same firm name by his son, Harry James McSheehy, who purchased it in May, 1911. He had the distinction of being the oldest editor and proprietor of a newspaper in Indiana in point of con- tinuous service on one publication.
Aside from his vocation, Mr. MeSheehy took his keenest pleasure in fraternal work, and became very prominent therein. He was the author of the Elks' ritual, serving as chairman of the ritual committee of the Grand Lodge of Elks for two years, was for seven years exalted ruler of the Logansport Lodge of Elks and through his earnest efforts secured for the lodge the magnificent home it now occupies; was president of the building committee of the Elks and served on the building commit- tees of both the local lodge and the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows. In Odd Fellowship he was past grand of Logan Lodge of Odd Fellows, and when entering Grand Lodge was raised to the high office of grand patri- arch. He was widely known in and out of his profession, and in his death Indiana newspaperdom lost one of its most conspicuous citizens.
Mr. McSheehy married Miss Minnie Maurer, and they became the parents of three sons: Harry, Lloyd and Harold.
CHARLES N. COOK. When the first settlers of Cass county came to this locality they found none of the present day developments which seem so essential a part of the landscape. All the land was wild, some in prairie, other parts covered with dense timber and a portion of it under water. It was a mighty task to turn the virgin sod, to fell the sturdy parent trees and to drain the pestilential swamps that were not only use- less, but bred various diseases ; yet these sturdy, determined old pioneers were equal to the task, and, while all did not live to see their young hopes materialized, they laid a sound foundation upon which the present re- markable structure of civilization has been built, and to them is due the initial credit. One of the families to whom belongs the distinction of having commenced this great work is that bearing the name of Cook, a worthy representative of which is found in the person of Charles N. Cook, veteran of the Civil war and a substantial farmer of Clay town- ship. Mr. Cook belongs to an old and honored New England family, whose Puritan ancestors emigrated to America on the Mayflower. He was born September 15, 1830, in Berkshire county, Williamstown, Mas- sachusetts, and is a son of Noah and Lydia B. (Bardwell) Cook.
Charles N. Cook received the advantages of a common school educa- tion, and his spare time as a boy was spent in assisting his father, who was a cobbler by trade and who made many fine pairs of shoes for the college students of his town. On attaining his majority, young Cook went to Marysville, California, where he entered the gardening business, but remained there only about one and one-half years, returning to his father's home in Massachusetts. In 1856 Mr. Cook came to Logansport, Indiana, and soon thereafter settled on a tract of land, about eleven
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acres comprising the tract, situated west of the city limits. This land he paid fifty dollars per acre for, and upon it he began the business of gardening. He carried on that industry until August 13, 1862, when he enlisted in Company K, Ninety-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for service in the Union army during the Civil war, and with this organization the young truck-gardener and soldier continued to participate in all of its engagements until he was honorably discharged as an invalid, on July 8, 1865, at Davis Island, N. Y. harbor. A brave, faithful and cheerful soldier, he won alike the respect of his comrades and the esteem of his officers, and when he had completed his career as a soldier, he returned to Williamstown, Mass., and spent the summer under the treatment of a physician at the home of his parents. In the fall of the same year, having recuperated his strength, he returned to Logansport, Ind., where he took a relapse of his trouble (the camp diarrhoea) and becoming so depleted in strength as to give up all hopes of recovery to health, sold his little home west of the city and at the request of a friend, went to the home of the latter in Clay township north of Logansport, where with careful nursing, on the following February was so restored to health that he married Miss Margaret Ball and commenced housekeeping on a farm in Bethlehem township and followed the occupation of a farmer as his health would permit.
In the fall of 1872, Mr. Cook bought a small farm of twenty acres on the north line of Clay township on which with the addition of an- other twenty acres adjoining he has since made his home. He is now in his eighty-third year and has a well-preserved vitality for a man of his age. He bought an old log cabin, hauled it to his farm with the assistance of his neighbors, fitted it up comfortably, and here he and his young wife lived.
The woman who became Mr. Cook's wife and faithful hielpmate through life was prior to her marriage Miss Margaret Ball, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 1841, whence she came to Indiana with her parents when she was a child of three years. She was the fifth born child of her parents, David and Maria (Baker) Ball, to whom were born seven children, and of which number four are living today, Mrs. Cook being the eldest. The others are Lafayette, of Clay township; Joseph, of Leiter's Ford, Indiana; and William B., also of Clay township.
When Mrs. Cook came to Indiana in 1844, the state was in her in- fancy. Miami and Pottawattomie Indians were there in plenty and from her childhood on Mrs. Cook experienced much in the new and untaught country in which her family had settled. The pioneering days of In- diana are thoroughly familiar to her, and she is well qualified to speak on pioneer conditions of Indiana that prevailed here half a century ago. She lived through the period when the forest was being converted into a rough field for cultivation; saw the use of the sickle, the scythe and the cradle in the field give way to more modern methods of harvesting; saw the old-fashioned fireplace, still dear to the hearts of many of us, the andirons, the spinning wheel, the reel, the looms for weaving the jeans and linseys, all pass out of use and be supplanted by the inven- tions and customs of a later day. None of the old time country sports are unfamiliar to her, or unforgotten. The quilting bee at which the
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women of the neighborhood congregated to make merry and incidentally to perform an unbelievable quantity of real work knew her cheerful presence on many happy occasions, and she was a witness at many a barn raising or log-rolling contest. In her childhood days she attended the little log cabin school in her community, and lived through the period when the old goose-quill pen was dying hard in the last days of its usefulness, when threatened by the advent of a more facile weapon. All these, and many other changes did she and her family see in the days of their early life in Indiana, and she recalls with mingled pain and pleasure the experiences of the days gone by.
Mr. and Mrs. Cook are the parents of three children,-a son and two daughters. David William is a resident of Clay township; Anna Bella is the wife of William C. Van Buren and makes her home in Fairfield county, Ohio, where they are engaged in the business of agriculture; they have three sons and two daughters; and Lydia Ellen, the youngest of the three, who makes her home with her parents and is devoting her- self to them in their declining years. She is a young woman of admirable character, educated in the public schools of the county, and well ad- vanced in music, a subject in which she is qualified to teach. She is a consistent member of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal church and an honored member of the Ladies' Aid Society of that church.
Mr. and Mrs. Cook are genuine pioneers of Cass county, and their citizenship is one of which their community may in every way be proud. They have a host of good friends in Clay township and com- mand the esteem and regard of all who share in their acquaintance. No shadow of dishonor has fallen upon the good name of the family in all the years of their residence in the Hoosier state, and they are of the people whose identity with the state has been one of its fortuitous conditions.
HON. HARRY M. GARDNER. Probably in no profession or avenue of business do men become so widely known as in journalism, not always as personalities, but as influences, their printed thoughts reaching thou- sands where their spoken ones could be heard perhaps by only a score. Hence the responsibility of a journalist is of exceeding weight, and his influence as a molder of public opinion bears directly upon the welfare of the community in which his labors are centered. Harry M. Gardner, city editor of the Daily Reporter, of Logansport, has spent his entire career in newspaper work, and has been connected with some of the leading public prints of the West and Middlewest. He was born at Dunkirk, New York, September 15, 1880, and is a son of William and Mary (Watson) Gardner, of Scotch and Irish ancestry, respectively. The Gardner family's advent in America occurred in Colonial days. William Gardner was a musician, a composer, and for a number of years a soloist with several of the largest musical organizations of this country. Both he and his wife are now deceased, as is also one of their two children.
Harry M. Gardner received his primary educational training in the schools of Dunkirk, where he was reared, and subsequently took a course at the University of Buffalo. Shortly after this he began his newspaper career as a circulator at Dunkirk, and as a "cub" reporter on the
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Evening Observer. Succeeding this he was connected with newspapers at Denver, Los Angeles, Butte, Ogden, Pocatello, Fort Worth, El Paso; and other points in the West, in a reportorial capacity, and in February, 1905, came to Logansport, Indiana, which he has since made his home, although twice before, for short periods, he had worked here. He became a reporter on the Daily Reporter, and successive promotions have raised him to the position of city editor of this publication.
Mr. Gardner is a Democrat in his political views, and in 1913 repre- sented Cass and Fulton counties in the state legisature. He belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
ADELBERT M. WALKER. Cass county, it has often been fittingly said, owes her greatest and best wealth to her farming communities and to the men who have given their lives to the cultivation of the waste places of the country, building up thriving communities and establishing happy homes in these districts that half a century ago were practically untouched by man. The present generation of Cass county farmers are carrying on to completion the worthy work begun by their fathers before them, and prominent among these may be mentioned Adelbert M. Walker, one of the well established and prosperous farmers of Miami township. As such, it is wholly consistent with the spirit and purpose of this work that some mention, though necessarily brief, be made of him and his work. A native son of the township and county in which he now resides, he was born here on August 19, 1872, and his parents are Eugene A. and Minerva (Thomas) Walker. The father resides in Clay township and enjoys the warm regard of a goodly circle of old time friends and acquaintances. The father was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, giving valiant service in the cause of the North, and is a member of G. A. R.
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