USA > Indiana > Clinton County > History of Clinton County, Indiana : With historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Volume II > Part 50
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WILLIAM S. BOWEN.
Owen township, Clinton county, has many first-class farmers who are making a comfortable living and proving to be excellent citizens in every way, and among them the name of William S. Bowen should be included. not that he farms on an extensive scale as some of the men of this locality or that he is a leader in public affairs, but because he does exceptionally well whatever he undertakes and he is interested in whatever movement that tends toward the upbuilding of the community.
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Mr. Bowen was born on July 8, 1865, in Carroll county, Indiana Hle is a son of Samuel and Matilda ( Shaffor) Bowen. The father was born in 1821 in Butler county, Ohio, the county of good old Buckeye state that has sent so many enterprising citizens to Clinton county, Indiana. He moved from there in 1828, when seven years old, with the rest of the family, which located in Tippecanoe county, Indian, among the pioneers of that locality. They lived a while in the first court house of that county, and, finally being compelled to move from there so that a session of court could be hell. the family came to Ross township, Clinton county, being thus pioneers here also. They worked hard clearing the wild land and developing a farm. Here Samuel Bowen grew to manhood and worked hard on the home pl. .. He received a meager education in the carly-day schools, and he devoted his life to general farming. In Carroll county he married Matilda Shaffor, who was born June 2, 1825, in Butler county, Ohio. To this union eleven children were born : Minerva, Etta M., Elvina Jane, Martha L., and William S. The father of the above named children reached the advanced age of eighty- five years.
William S. Bowen grew to manhood on the home farm and there he worked when a boy. He received his education in the common schools. On November 11, 1893, he married Keturah Hurley, who was born in Owen township, Clinton county. December 21, 1876. She is a daughter of Joshua and Rebecca (Breedlove) Hurley, both natives of Howard county, Indiana. The mother is now deceased, but the father is living. Mrs. Bowen grew up in her native community and received there a common school education.
To Mr. and Mrs. Bowen four children have been born : Walter, August 30, 1894: Cora, March 15, 1896; Willard, November 14, 1897, and Ersie, April 2, 1899.
Mr. Bowen has always engaged in farming, first in Carroll county, this state, where he got a good start, and remained until 1900, when he removed to Clinton county and located in Owen township, where he has resided ever since. He owns a very productive and well kept place of eighty acres, on which stand good buildings. ITis land is all under cultivation but about four acres. He built his own home and made other first-class improvements here. He raises Shorthorn cows and Duroc hogs along with a few Chester Whites : also general purpose horses.
Politically, Mr. Bowen is a Republican, and fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Sedalia, and the Improved Order of Red Men at Moran. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal churchi.
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MARTIN J. TAYLOR.
Among the older native born citizens of Warren township, Clinton county, who have been content to spend their lives right here in this locality is Martin J. Taylor. He was satisfied with his home vicinity because he had the sagacity to know that it was not surpassed in this or other states in point of opportunities for those who wanted to follow tilling the soil for their life work. While he is not among our largest farmers, he is one of our most thorough and painstaking, and has therefore always made a good living and laid away the necessary competency to insure his old age from want.
Mr. Taylor was born in the above named township and counts . o. Tel- ruary 10, 1848. He is a son of Charles C. and Rebecca (Fessel) Taylor. The father was born in 1800 in the state of Tennessee, but not much of his life was spent there, he having removed to this locality when a boy and was therefore one of the pioneers of Clinton county. However, he spent some time in the state of Ohio and was married there. He devoted his life to gen- eral farming. His death occurred March 31. 1867. Ilis wife was also a na- tive of Tennessee, her birth occurring there in 1810, and her death in Clinton county on December 5. 1879. They were the parents of eleven children : Clements F., Jolin M .. William L., Isaac O., and Ellen L. (all deceased) ; Anna died in infancy, unnamed : Clinton R. : Martin J., of this review : Rach- ael M. (deceased), and Andrew R.
Martin J. Taylor grew up on the home farm and worked hard when a boy, for in those early days there was plenty for all to do. He received such educational advantages as the early schools afforded in the rural districts. On February 10, 1881, he married Dora Leach, who was born in Clinton county in 1858, where she grew to womanhood and was educated in the public schools. She was a daughter of Thomas and Milanda (Louch) Leach. She was a member of the Methodist church. She died March 26, 1886, when in young womanhood, leaving two children : Coffel H., born November 5, ISSI: and Effie E., born April 25, 1883.
Mr. Taylor has always engaged in farming, first in Warren township, where he lived until February 17, 1880, when he removed across the line into Owen township, where he has since resided, owning a good home here and a farm of eighty acres. He also owns seventy-six acres in Warren township. not far from his other land. His son lives on the last named place. He has brought both his farms up to a high state of improvement and cultivation, and he built his own home. His place is known as the Hocum farm. All of Mr.
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Taylor's land is tillable and well tiled but ten acres, which is in woods. In connection with general farming he raises Jersey cows. Duroc hogy and gen- eral purpose horses. He has been very successful as a farmer and stoch raiser.
Politically, Mr. Taylor is a Demoreat and has been faithful in hi. up port of the party principles at all times, defeat or victory. Fraternally, he belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men; religiously, he attends and as- sists in supporting the Universalist church. He was for some time supervisor of Warren township. filling the office to the satisfaction of all concerned.
F. P. McCOMAS.
One of the most enterprising of the younger business men of Rossville. Clinton county, is F. P. McComas, of the firm of McComas & Hornbeck, proprietors and operators of the large grain elevator and mill, one of the leading industries of this section of the county. Our subject has made him- self familiar with every phase of this line of endeavor through several years of close study and persistent work in connection with the same, and, judging from his past record and taking his youth into account, it is not too much to predict for him a large business success in future years.
Mr. McComas was born in Hancock county, Indiana, September 27, 1880, the son of a farmer, H. E. McComas, also of Hancock county, where he formerly engaged in general farming and stock raising on a large scale, but he is now living retired. The family is of Scotch ancestry, and they came from Ohio to Hancock county. Indiana, in an early day. H. E. McComas was a son of Alfred McComas, who was a native of Pennsylvania, from which state he moved to Ohio. The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Hannah Tharp. Her parents lived near Marietta. Ohio.
Two children were born to IT. E. McComas and wife: John .1 .. a prominent grain dealer of Fortville, Indiana: and F. P., of this sketch. Politically. H. E. McComas is a Republican, and religiously he belongs to the Methodist church, as does also his wife. Fraternally. he is a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
F. P. McComas was reared on the home farm in Hancock county and there he assisted his father during the crop seasons when he became of proper age. He received his education in the public schools of his neighborhood. Early in life he took up the grain business, and he took charge of the eleva-
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for at Roseville in Jocs and has made a great success of it and the will here The elevator has a capacity of fifteen thousand bushels, one of the largest and best liny in the corner and he dres an extensive business not a wide territory. He is also one of the proprietors of the Midget mill. the only one of its kind in Indiana, and. like the elevator, it is modernly equipped and is being successfully managed, its products, owing to it- superior quality, being eagerly sought after; in fact they have long enjoyed an excellent trade in flour, their many customers saying that no better flour is to be obtained than theirs.
Mr. McComas is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellow's. and he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically. he is a Republi can. He is a gentleman of pleasing personality and a ready friend-maker : and, it is also noticeable that he does not have to exert any special efforts to retain them.
JOHN C. ROGERS.
One of the able and popular representatives of the bar of Clinton county is John C. Rogers, of Rossville, a man who has for a number of decades stood high among his professional breathren, and who has honored the above named town with his residence for a period of over fifty-five years, during which his name has become a household word to the people of this part of the county, for it has stood for not only a high mark in legal affairs, but also for public spirit and wholesomeness in both private and public life ; therefore, the high esteem in which he is universally held has been well merited.
Mr. Rogers was born in 1848 in Clinton county on the land where the village of Mulberry now stands, in a village called Glicksville, and is a scion of one of our sterling early families. He is a son of Elisha C. Rogers. a native of New Jersey, but it was from Ohio he emigrated to Clinton county in 1832, making the long overland journey from that state through the wilds of the intervening country. He had made this journey previously, in 1829. and looked the country over, and, being pleased with its future possibilities made up his mind then to return some time, which, however, he did not do until some three years later. Here he began work in true pioneer fashion and in due course of time developed a productive farm and established a good home. This family is of English ancestry, and some of them were killed in the old English wars. Elisha C. Rogers was reared in Warren county, Ohio,
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by his older brother, Robert Rogers, his parents having died when he was a child. Ile married in Ohio, Rebecca Parks, and to them eight children were born : Eleanor, who died at the advanced age of eighty-three ; Jane, Harriet. Robert, who went to California with an ox team in 1851, died in Dayton, Indiana, his widow now living in Dayton; Ellen, Joseph, Rebecca and David, all deceased. The paternal grandfather of these children married a woman who was a native of Holland and of a good family. Elisha C. Rogers was twice married, his second wife being Hannah MeCain, a native of South Carolina, of Scotch extraction. Her family lived for some years in Ken- tucky, but later moved to Indiana, where the father died. He was an owner of slaves, but finally set them free.
By the second union of Elisha C. Rogers the following children were born: Mary Elizabeth (deceased). Peter (deceased), a soldier in Company K, Sixtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry; and John C., the subject of this sketch. The death of Elisha C. Roger's occurred at the age of fifty-six years, and his last wife died at the age of fifty-six. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian church.
John C. Rogers spent his boyhood on the farm in Owen township and received his early education in the public schools. Early in life he began studying law and was admitted to the bar, in 1875, at Frankfort, Indiana, and soon thereafter opened an office in Rossville, where he has remained to the present time, enjoying a large, lucrative and constantly growing practice. and figuring conspicuously in important cases in the local courts for consid- erably over a quarter of a century. He has been very successful in the trial of cases, being profoundly versed in the law and an indefatigable worker and earnest pleader. He has kept well abreast of the times in his profession, remaining a close student all his life.
Mr. Rogers proved his courage and patriotism in July, 1862, by enlisting in the Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until December, 1862. In October, 1863, he re-entered in the Ninth Indiana Cav- alry, under Colonel G. W. Jackson and General Wilson. He saw service in Tennessee and Mississippi, and was honorably discharged in March, 1865, after making an excellent record.
Mr. Rogers was married July 14, 1879, to Barbara Crawford, who was born in Clinton county, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She was a daughter of George W. Crawford, now deceased. Her mother was known in her maidenhood as Brabara Fisher, a sister of Dr. Samuel Fisher, now deceased.
CLINTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
Four children have been born to our subject and wife: Dora. married to O. L. Wright, of Indianapolis: Bessie, the wife of Charles S. West, of Rossville; and two children, who died in infancy.
Politically, Mr. Rogers was a Republican, in former years, but he turned Progressive in 1912 and made the race for prosecuting attorney on that ticket. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order and the Independent" Order of Odd Fellows.
DR. C. N. WILSON.
Perhaps no profession has made greater strides during the past decade than dentistry. New inventions are constantly being added, until today it seems to be about at the zenith of its possibilities, but who can tell what another decade will bring forth? It has not been so very many years ago when a doctor of dental surgery was to be found only in the large cities. The filling of decayed teeth, making gold crowns and bridge work, to say nothing of the manufacture of sets of artificial teeth was unknown in the country dis- tricts of the United States, and the only dentistry practiced was when the old family doctor was called on to extract a throbbing molar. But today skilled men in this vocation are to be found in every city, town and village through- out the country. They have become as indispensible as the doctor of medicine.
One of the most successful and promising of the younger generation of dentists in Clinton county is Dr. C. N. Wilson, of Rossville, who was born in Carroll county, Indiana, December 11, 1886, on a farm. He is a son of T. N. Wilson, also a native of Carroll county, where his parents located in an early day. T. N. Wilson was reared and educated in his native county and there he married Lydia Wingard, also born, reared and educated in that county. To them four children were born, three sons and a daughter: T. J., C. N .. Russell (deceased), and Mary. The death of the father occurred at the age of forty-nine years. He was a member of the Methodist church, and a good and useful man in his neighborhood. He devoted his life to farming.
Dr. C. N. Wilson was reared on the home farm, and received his early education in the public schools. Early in life he decided to enter the dental profession, and with this end in view he took the prescribed course in the Indianapolis Dental College, where he made an excellent record and from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1911. Soon thereafter he located at Rossville, Clinton county, where he has already built up a large.
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lucrative and rapidly growing painsthe His work rank with that of the leading dentists in this section of the state, and his office is well equipped with all modern appliances for rapid and high-grade work. He is located in a model and modern of the ing in the central porti net. ...
Dr. Wilson was married on September 28, 1900, to Opal Flora, a laugh ter of Lewis Flora, who was a son of Jacob Flora, for whom the town of Flora, Carroll county. Indian t, was named, which family has been prominent in that locality for several sierations. Mis. Wilson is a lady of education and refinement. The Doctor and his wife have made a host of warm friends since coming to Rossville, and they are active in the best social circles of the city.
FREDERICK C. LOCKE, M. D.
Among the most promising of the younger generation of physicians and surgeons in Clinton county the name of Dr. Frederick C. Locke, of Ross- ville, must consistently be included, for he has been practicing in this locality long enough to prove himself to be a man of marked individual talent along the line of his chosen profession and also is well abreast of the times in point of education and training, besides being the possessor of those innate charac- tertistics which any man must have to become a successful and popular doc- tor. He is a young man of exemplary habits and deems it a privilege to be able to carry help and comfort to the sick.
Dr. Locke was born at Vevay, Switzerland county, Indiana, January 24, 188.4, and is a son of William P. Locke, a coal operator and dealer and promi- nent citizen of the city of Vevay. He is also a native of Switzerland county, and is a son of Samuel Locke. He grew to manhood in his native county and was educated and married there. The year of his birth was 1847. The mother was a Van Briggle, whose ancestors came from Holland. Her father was a well known and influential minister in the Presbyterian church. John A. Locke, son of Sammel Locke, was a soldier for three years during the Civil war in the Union army, making a splendid record. The death of William C. Locke, father of our subject, occurred at the early age of thirty-five years. The mother also died in early life, leaving our subject an orphan, and he was reared by an uncle, John A. Locke, mentioned above. He received a good education in the public schools, as did also his brother, Karl Locke, of Vevay, Indiana. Frederick C. later attended the Central Normal School at Danville.
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Indiana, after which he engaged in teaching for a period of five years, giving eminent satisfaction to both pupils and patrons. He decided that his truc bent lay along medical lines and while teaching began the study of medicine. later entering the University of Louisville, at Louisville, Kentucky where he made an excellent record and from which he was graduated with the class of 1909. He soon thereafter located at Dillsboro, Dearborn county, Indiana. where he remained one year and built up a good practice, then, seeking a larger field for the exercise of his talent, he came to Rossville in iett, and here he has since remained. He was successful from the start and now enjoys a large and rapidly growing practice. He is a close student and gives his profession his undivided attention. He is not only a general practitioner but a surgeon of uncommon ability. He is a member of the Clinton County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, and the National Medi- cal Association. Ile belongs to the Masonic Order, No. 318, of Rossville. He is a genial, obliging gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet : a clean-cut. manly, sane and broad-minded young man to whom the future undoubtedly has much of good to bestow. Dr. Locke has remained unmarried.
N. W. CLARK, M. D.
The medical profession of Clinton county has an able and very promising representative in the person of Dr. N. W. Clark, physician and surgeon, of Rossville, a man yet young in years but who has practiced in this locality long enough to prove himself to be the possessor of the necessary qualifica- tions to make a success in this particular field of endeavor. Not only was he seemingly singled out by Mother Nature for this special vocation, but he has put forth every effort to advance himself, is a profound student and is enam- ored of his work, deeming it a privilege to bring succor to the diseased and the sick in general.
Dr. Clark was born August 29, 1870, in Carroll county, Indiana. a son of Joseph B. Clark, a well known citizen of that section of the Hoosier state, now living in retirement in the town of Flora. He was born in Union county. Indiana, where he was reared and educated. During the Civil war he served as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Indiana Volunteer In- fantry. He married Mary Eikenbury, who is now deceased. To them four children were born, two sons and two daughters: Dr. N. W., of this sketch :
.
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Albert M., a farmer living near Flora: Mrs. Nellie Hodson, of Moreland. Indiana, and Fanny (deceased).
Mr. Clark married for his second wife Anna Eaton and had one child. Scott, who is a farmer near Flora, Indiana.
The Clark family came to Indiana in 1830 and entered government land in Union county, beginning life there like the other pioneers of the state. Joseph B. Clark went to Carroll county in early manhood and there became a highly respected and successful man. He belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic, and the United Brethren church.
Dr. Clark was reared on the farm in his native county and received a common school education. later attending the State Normal, after which he followed teaching for several years in Carroll county with much success, and also taught for some time in Clinton county. He began the study of medi- cine while still teaching, and in order to properly qualify for practice he spent three years in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, where he made an excellent record, and from which institution he was graduated in 1904. ITe had also spent one year in a medical college in Chicago. He located in Ross- ville in 1906 and has since been engaged here as a physician and surgeon. building up a large, lucrative and constantly growing practice and taking his place in the front rank of his professional brethren in this county. He is a close student of new methods of treatment.
Dr. Clark was married December 25. 1909, at Flora, Indiana, to Rose Cline, of that city, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of Henry Cline, a well known citizen there.
Dr. Clark is a Republican and has been active in party affairs. He is a member of the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Clinton County Medical Society and the Indiana State Medical So- ciety.
F. C. CASSEL.
Clinton county is the home of many valiant veterans of the great army that saved the disruption of the nation in the early sixties. Many of them lived here when the conflict began, while many others have moved within our borders since the close of the struggle. And we are proud of all of them and glad to accord them the honor that is justly due. One of this number is F. C. Cassel, of Rossville, who has lived here since 1892 and since his advent each
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successive year has gained for him more friends than the preceding knew This is not hard to account for in view of his public spirit, industry and good character.
Mr. Cassel was born in Fountain county, Indiana. October 3, 1842. Hc is a son of Jacob Cassel, born near Dayton, Ohio, who was a son of Job Cassel. who lived to be eighty years old. This family is of English ancestry. The first of the family to emigrate to the New World settled in Virginia, and took part in the early wars of the nation. In the frontier days of Indiana, Job Cassel settled in Fountain county, established through hard work the future home of the family there. There the father of our subject grew to manhood and learned the saddler's trade, which he followed for a number of years. Upon reaching manhood he married Mary Malinda Young, a daugh- ter of Thomas Young. a native of Kentucky. Four children were born to the parents of our subject : One, who died in early life; Rev. II. Clay, of Boswell, Indiana, a minister in the Christian church :. F. C., of this sketch : and J. M., of Danville, Illinois. The father died at the age of eighty-four ycars, and the mother died at the age of sixty-four years.
F. C. Cassel was reared on the farm and received a common school edu- cation. He also attended Butler College, graduating in 1867. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served seven months. He was honorably discharged from the Army of the Cumberland, in which he had served in Tennessee. He began life for himself as a school teacher, which he followed with success for several years. He was a superintendent of schools in Ben- ton county, and was school examiner for a period of thirteen years. He then became cashier of the Rossville Bank, serving in a manner that made him a host of friends in that community, his honesty, promptness and courtesy ap- pealing to all who patronized the bank.
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