USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Indiana : Its people, industries and institutions > Part 31
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On December 26, 1878, Professor Allen was married to Rebecca Hyatt, daughter of William and Rebecca (Read) Hyatt, to which union two chil- dren have been born, Bessie Read and Helen Hyatt. Bessie married Stephen E. Myers. a lawyer in Washington, a biographical sketch of whom is pre- sented elsewhere in this volume. Helen married Dr. C. J. Burris and they live with Professor Allen. They have one child, Eleanor Rebecca.
Mrs. Allen died on May 28, 1893, at the age of thirty-four. She
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was born on a farm adjoining the north edge of Washington. Her father was born in Mason county, Kentucky, and her mother in Washington town- ship, Daviess county. They were the parents of five children, Mary, George, Margaret, Helen and Rebecca. William Hyatt had been married twice, his first wife having been Margaret McClure, of Knox county, near Vincennes, to which union there was born one son, Thomas. William Hyatt was the son of Thomas Hyatt, who married Margaret McFerren. They were na- tives of Maryland and came from Kentucky to Daviess county in 1819, settling on what is still known as the old Oyatt farm, at the edge of Wash- ington. They were the parents of seven children, Lucinda, Eliza, John, Elisha, Mary Ann, William and Margaret. Mrs. Allen's maternal grand- parents were Nathan and Mary (Weaver) Read), the former of whom was a native of Vermont and the latter of Daviess county. Their children were Martha, George C., Sarah, Miriam, Richard N., Nathan G. and Rebecca. Mrs. Allen was a member of the Baptist church, of which Professor Allen is also a member, serving the congregation as a deacon and clerk of the church.
Professor Allen is a Democrat but, with the exception of four years, during which time he was a member of the Washington city council, he has never been especially active in politics, having devoted his life and energies to the cause of education.
SAMUEL BROWN BOYD.
Samuel Brown Boyd, editor of the Daily and Weekly Democrat, at Washington, this county, was born in Yorkville, Dearborn county, Indiana, March 14, 1858, being a son of John and Elizabeth (Miller) Boyd, who were natives of Ireland and Ohio, respectively. The family numbered nine children, three of whom are living, Mrs. John S. Goshorn, Mrs. Millie B. Johnson and Mr. Boyd, all of Daviess county, Indiana. The parents are dead.
Mr. Boyd moved from Dearborn county to Daviess county with his parents in 1871. Both parents died shortly after the removal, the father in 1871 and the mother in 1875. At the age of seventeen Mr. Boyd found himself entirely upon his own resources. He worked on a farm in the sum- mer and went to the country schools in the winter until he succeeded in se- curing a license to teach. He continued at school work for ten years, teach- ing in country schools for four years; principal of the Odon school for one
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year, in the grammar school, Washington, one year and county superin- tendent of schools four years-1883-87. In the meantime he attended school two summers at Danville, Indiana.
In 1885 he bought a third interest in the Democrat; in 1887 this was increased to one-half interest, and in connection with Stephen Belding and B. F. Strasser, respectively, he published the Daily and Weekly Democrat until 1891, when he purchased the entire plant. In 1906 he sold a half inter- est in the plant to Henry Backes and the publication has been issued since then under the firm name of Boyd & Backes.
Mr. Boyd was married on December 29. 1887. to Miss Tillie Scudder. eldest daughter of the late Dr. John A. Scudder, of Washington. To this union five children were born, two of whom are dead and three are living- Samuel. Jr .. John Scudder and Polly Ruth. aged. respectively. twenty-two. nineteen and seventeen.
Mr. Boyd is a prominent member of the Democratic Editorial Asso- ciation of Indiana. in which he served as president in 1895 and was secre- tary for several years. He has been an Odd Fellow since 1882 and is an ardent member of the Episcopal church. He served as a trustee of the Southern Indiana hospital for the insane during Governor Matthews' admin- istration-1893-97: also on the city school board of Washington.
GEORGE W. DYKE.
Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Daviess county within the pages of this book, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality, and whose interests are identified with its every phase of progress : each contributing. in his sphere of action. to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advance- ment of its moral and legitimate growth. Among this number is the gentle- man whose name appears above. peculiar interest attaching to the fact that he has spent but a few years of his life within the borders of this county.
George W. Dyke was born on November 11, 1876, in Centerton, Morgan county, Indiana. the son of James and Sarah (Dyer) Dyke, the former born in 1840. in Mill Springs. Kentucky: the latter born in 1842, in Morgan county. Indiana. James Dyke was the son of William Dyke, a na- tive of England, who emigrated to this country and first settled in the state of Maryland, where he and his family remained for some time. then went
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to the state of Kentucky, from which state they came to Indiana, locating in Hendricks county, later moving to Morgan county, whence they went to the state of Illinois where William Dyke died, after which his widow re- turned to Morgan county, where she spent the rest of her life. The maternal grandparents were George and Maria (Russell) Dyer. George Dyer's father emigrated, in an early day, to Morgan county, Indiana, where he took up a grant of land from the government, spending the rest of his life there. George Dyer died some years ago and his widow is living to the present day.
James Dyke was a blacksmith by trade and came from Kentucky to Indiana, locating at Brooklyn, Morgan county, where he continued to work at his trade and reared a large family. He was somewhat active in politics and while disposed to cast his vote in an independent manner, yet his leaning was towards the principles of the Republican party and to it gave his sup- port. He and his family were members of the Methodist church. To his union with Sarah Dyer were born the following children, named in the order of their birth: George W., Angie, deceased; Josephine, Carl, Ebenezer, deceased; an infant, deceased; Mary, deceased; Norman and another infant, deceased.
George W. Dyke lived with his parents and received his early educa- tion in the public schools of Morgan county, later acquiring a good working knowledge of the blacksmithing trade, which he followed for a number of years, after which he took up the study of mechanical and electrical engineer- ing. Having acquired a splendid knowledge of these latter lines, he was appointed to the position of manager of the plant of the Central Union Telephone Company in the town of Brooklyn, and continued as manager there until the company transferred him to Washington, this county, where he has been located since 1913. During the year 1914 he was appointed manager of the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company at Wash- ington, but on account of a statute opposing dual employment in public serv- ice corporations, he was prevented from holding the management of the two branch companies, and had to give up the telegraph project.
On October 22, 1896, George W. Dyke was married to Effie Dalton, a native of Orange county, Indiana, daughter of S. W. Dalton, of Brooklyn, Morgan county, and to their union have been born five children, named, in the order of their births, as follow: Agnes, deceased; Gladys, Dons, Ge- neva, deceased, and George.
Since being transferred to the town of Washington, Mr. Dyke has taken an active part in the promotion of all meritorious enterprises that tend to
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scaly de has always identified himself with mt an aspirant for public office, takes an i piritual matters. Fraternally, he is a member is the Coder of Red Men, and is a thirty-second-de- suite order going up through the York and the M= Drie is a man who. in all the relations of ilestune living and cleanliness in politics as ser i bis antipathy to wrong doing, whether = = contents of influential offices. In every = = which he is universally held, for he is a inments and exemplary character.
ANDREW J. BIDDINGER.
It is the googresans wade-amake man of affairs that makes the real ezce as a potential factor in the body poli- examroles such men furnish of patient pur- alla trace what is in the power of each here al always a fell measure of satisfaction in ad- m way. co ches: achievements in advancing the inter- eso de ww ww ering wreath and solidity to the ins- ad for the prosperity of the community. Such a procent real-estate dealer and insurance Mr. Paddinger's business has naturally public and play he enjoys an enviable regu- 1. 2 1 Perliare no dale of people contribute age of a comely than those persons who ber wwwen comtribute more to the im- Được dealers, of which Mr. Big- In every respect he is a represents-
s on Notemier 10, 1855, in Butler W. 4 Caroline ( Hancock) Biddingen
Pax em ummy, Indiana They were the
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ington township; Melinda, who died at the age of sixteen years; Andrew J., of Washington, and Almira, the wife of R. D. Cleaver, of Washington.
George W. Biddinger was reared in Butler county, Ohio, where he owned and improved a large farm. He sold out there in 1861, and came to this county, purchasing a farm in Washington township, where he died in 1872, at the age of fifty-eight years. His widow died in 1875, at the age of fifty-one. He was a member of the Lutheran church and his wife was a member of the United Brethren church. The parents of George W. Biddinger were Frederick and Catherine (Hoover) Biddinger, natives of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. They were early settlers in Ohio, and their eldest son was a soldier in the War of 1812, and also a soldier in the Mexican War. Frederick Biddinger, the son of Frederick Biddinger, was a soldier in the Patriot army during the Revolutionary War, and also served during the War of 1812, later emigrating to Ohio, where he became a farmer in Butler county, and died there, his wife dying in Hamilton county, Ohio. The former died at the age of seventy-six and the latter at the age of eighty-four. They had a family of eleven children, being: Jacob, Solomon, Michael, Jonathan, James, George, Andrew, Frederick, Mrs. Catherine Cann, Mrs. Mary Wall and Mrs. Elizabeth Cann. Frederick Bid- dinger's parents were born in Germany. Following his services in the Revolutionary War, Frederick Biddinger cut a hickory cane from a tree in the war zone to serve as a staff on his long walk home. Andrew J. Bid- dinger is now the possessor of this stout staff, a relic of the Revolution, which he prizes quite highly.
The maternal grandparents of Andrew J. Biddinger were John W. and Deborah (Stansberry) Hancock, natives of Maryland, the former of Eng- lish and the latter of German descent. They lived to rear a large family in Franklin county, Indiana. John W. Hancock was a merchant and also owned a farm of five or six hundred acres. He shipped a great quantity of produce by wagon and operated a large number of huckster wagons. He died at the age of fifty and his wife at the age of eighty-seven. Their chil- dren were Phinx, Lloyd, Green, Charles, Seneca, Caroline and Julia Ann.
Andrew J. Biddinger was reared on his father's farm in Washington township. He attended the district schools and later Fort Scott College at Fort Scott, Kansas. He then returned to Daviess county and began farm- ing, continuing in this vocation until 1889, when, for a time, he sold sewing machines. Since November, 1889, he has been engaged in the insurance business, and for twenty years he also has been engaged in the real estate business.
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On April 5, 1894, Andrew J. Biddinger was married, to Dora Henry, a teacher in the Washington schools; daughter of Isaiah and Nancy (Taylor) Henry. She died in 1904, and on October 28, 1906, Mr. Biddinger married, secondly, Ruth Waller, who was born on a farm in Barr township, this county, daughter of George and Lucretia (McDonald.) Waller, natives of this county, and both of whom are now deceased, she being their only child. Mrs. Biddinger's paternal grandfather was John Waller, who married Mary A. Goodwin. Their children were George, William S., Edward F., John. M., Richard, James, Anna E., Mary and Margaret. Mrs. Biddinger's great- grandparents were Aaron and Margaret (Mccullough) Goodwin.
Mr. and Mrs. Biddinger are members of the Christian church, in which. Mr. Biddinger is serving as a deacon. Fraternally, he belongs to Liverpool Lodge No. 110, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically, he is iden- tified with the fortunes of the Prohibition party. Andrew J. Biddinger is. highly respected in Daviess county and has been foremost in all worthy public enterprises.
WILLIAM H. KIEFER.
Washington, the metropolis of Daviess county, has a unique character in the person of William H. Kiefer, the clerk of the Daviess county circuit court and a man known throughout the country as a successful composer of band and orchestra music. According to the Musical Messenger, Mr. Kiefer is "a band organizer, instructor, director and cornetist." "Either designation or title is distinction enough for any one man to wear, if he bears it as well as Mr. Kiefer," says the Musical Messenger. "We don't know which he prefers, but we suspect that the public will call him com- poser, for he has certainly made himself popular with his compositions, and thousands are influenced through his writings, where hundreds are possibly benefited by his directing or cornet playing."
William H. Kiefer was born into a musical family and inherited the musical spirit, absorbing musical notation and rules with his alphabet and arithmetic. Living in a musical atmosphere, he began as a child to play on everything he could get hold of that would produce a musical sound. At ten years of age he played in a boys' band that had been organized and instructed by an uncle, Joseph P. Kiefer. This uncle took a special interest in him and instructed him privately in the rudiments of music, teaching him violin and cornet. William was an apt pupil and fully appreciated his uncle's interest. Mr. Kiefer attributes most of the credit for his musical attain-
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ments to this good uncle who encouraged and directed him during the formative period of his career. The ambition to write a band or orchestra. piece took hold of him at the age of fifteen years and at that early age he began work on a composition. It was a march and when finished was called, "Salute to Washington," which was played by his home band and was well received. Later Mr. Kiefer began to publish band and orchestra selections. Most of his selections have been published by C. L. Barnhouse, of Oska- loosa, Iowa, whom Mr. Kiefer met during a three-years' sojourn at Oskaloosa.
William H. Kiefer, one of the many stars in the firmament of Hoosier authorship, was born in this county on July 22, 1872, a son of Gustave and Mary (Beck) Kiefer, the former a native of Baden, Germany, and the latter a native of Knox county, Indiana, who were the parents of eleven children, namely: William H., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Rose, the wife of George Pensenneau, of East St. Louis, Illinois; Leonard, of Indianapolis; Carrie, the wife of Charles Gill, of Washington, Indiana; Gustave, of Indianapolis; Catherine, the wife of Charles Dant, of Indian- apolis; Benjamin, of Washington, Indiana; Mary, the wife of Alfred Hel- big, of Vincennes; Albert, of Washington, and two children, Emma and Clarence, who died in infancy.
Gustave Kiefer came to America when eight years old with his par- ents, who located on a farm in Dubois county, Indiana, where he grew to manhood. He engaged in the lumber and saw-mill business near French Lick for a few years and then moved to Washington, where, for some years, he engaged in the manufacture of bricks. Subsequently he engaged in the butcher business and afterward conducted the German Hotel; on West Main street, which burned some years ago. He died in 1903, at the age of sixty. His widow died in 1910, at the age of fifty-nine. They were members of the German Catholic church.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were Anton Kiefer and his wife Caroline. Anton Kiefer was a brick-maker and died at Washington at an old age. He and his wife were the parents of five children, Gustave, Mary, Joseph, Lawrence and Stephen. The maternal grandfather of Will- iam H. Kiefer was William Beck, a native of France. He was a general merchant in Parkville, Indiana, and died there. William Beck was twice married, Mary and Christ being the only children born to the first union, and Rose and Nellie to the second union.
William H. Kiefer was born and reared in Washington, and attended the parochial and public schools. Later he took a course in the Jasper Business College. He served as a deputy in the county recorder's office for two years and was city clerk for four years, from 1902 to 1906. Upon
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retiring from this office he entered the real estate business, in which he was engaged from 1907 to 1912, in which latter year he was elected clerk of the Daviess circuit court on the Democratic ticket. Mr. Kiefer is the leader of the Citizens band and has served very acceptably in this capacity during the past twenty years.
On December 24, 1906, William H. Kiefer was married to Maud Helphinstine, daughter of John and Mary (Hyatt) Helphenstine, to which union two sons, William R. and John C. have been born.
Mrs. Kiefer was born in Washington, Indiana. Her parents, both of whom were born in this county, are now living at 100 John street, Wash- ington. Of their children, Mrs. Kiefer is the only one now living. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Kiefer were William and Maria (Aikman) Helphenstine, pioneers of Daviess county. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Kiefer were William and Rebecca Ann (Read) Hyatt, who were the parents of the following children: Mary, George, Margaret, Helen, Rebecca and Thomas.
Mr. Kiefer is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his sons are members of the Catholic Church and Mrs. Kiefer is a member of the Presby- terian church.
As the Musical Messenger says: "The man who writes pleasing music, music that becomes popular, endears himself to a great host of his fellows whom he may never have the pleasure of meeting personally. Yet there is a sense of comradeship felt by him with those who play his music. The knowledge that comes to him of his music played in various sections of the country establishes a bond of fellowship between himself and these unknown friends, for a real friendship has been established. When we play music that we like we want to know to whom we are indebted for it. We seek the name of the author and finding it we remember it and begin to form in imagination a picture of him; that is, if no picture of him is furnished us with his music." Thus is the name of William H. Kiefer known through- out the country. Mr. Kiefer makes himself useful musically wherever he may be. For years he has been identified with, if not the chief leader in, the musical performances by local talent in and about Washington, his home city, such as light operas, minstrel performances and the like, and is personally very popular. His latest march, "The Specialist," was pub- lished in the Musical Messenger for September, 1914, and had a very large sale.
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MILTON SIMPSON HASTINGS.
The welfare of our country depends in a great measure upon those men who in an unassuming manner work steadily away in their chosen field of endeavor, and who are yet broad-minded men; not blind to the needs of their community, nor to those things that stand for real progress. Daviess county has reason to be proud of the many true men she has produced who now are engaged in various lines of activities, among whom is Milton Simpson Hastings, a well-known and successful lawyer of Washington.
Mr. Hastings was born in Bogard township, Daviess county, Indiana, on April 25, 1862, the son of John Arthur and Lauretta (Allen) Hastings, natives of Indiana, who had seven children, four of whom are living: Mary E., wife of Andrew T. Myers, of Plainville, Indiana; Milton S., of Wash- ington, Indiana; Paris A., of Washington; Elmer E., of the firm of Hast- ings, Allen & Hastings, and three children who died young.
John Arthur Hastings was reared in Lawrence and Daviess counties, Indiana, and was a teacher for many years. He lived most of the time in Bogard township, this county, where he also ran a farm. During the latter part of his life he was for several years, a merchant at Cornettsville, but teaching was his principal work. He lived a few years in Washington. He was admitted to the bar in 1857, but never practiced law. John A. Hastings died in 1891, at the age of fifty-nine. His widow died in 1905, aged sixty- five. They were originally members of the Christian church, but later of the United Brethren church. Mr. Hastings' father was a Quaker.
The paternal grandparents of Milton S. Hastings were Howell and Edith (Edwards) Hastings, natives of North Carolina, and pioneer farmers of Lawrence and Daviess counties. Howell Hastings also was a mechanic, being very handy with tools. He lived in what was then Clarksburg, now Odon, in Daviess county, where he died in middle age. His widow survived him many years and moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, where she died at an old age. They were the parents of six children, William Henry, Joshua Thomas, Zachariah Simpson, Rufus, Elizabeth and Charlotte.
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Hastings were Hiram and Keziah (Cook) Allen, early settlers of Daviess county, Indiana. Hiram Allen was a farmer and did some teaming from New Albany and Louisville to Wash- ington. He died a young man. His widow remarried and lived to an old age. Hiram Allen and wife were the parents of three children, Lauretta, Milton L., and Mary E.
M. S. Hastings was reared on his father's farm, attending the district
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school of his home neighborhood, the public schools of Washington, and the Southern Indiana Normal at Mitchell. While going through the normal school he taught three terms of school. After being graduated from the normal school he taught one year, as principal of the public schools of Clay City, Illinois. He then returned home and began the study of law in the office of Gardiner & Taylor, at Washington, and was admitted to the bar of the Daviess circuit court in 1886. He and Josiah G. Allen formed a partner- ship on September 20, 1897, and have practiced together ever since, a period of twenty-seven years. The firm is now composed of M. S. Hastings, J. G. Allen, E. E. Hastings and A. W. Allen, a son of J. G. Allen.
On September 16, 1886, M. S. Hastings was married to Edith Laville Jackman, who was born in De Kalb county, Indiana, the daughter of Wesley and Sarah M. (Baxter) Jackman. Wesley Jackman was a native of Ohio and his wife a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Hastings is a graduate of the Lebanon (Ohio) Normal School and taught in both Indiana and Ohio, being instructor in literature, Latin and Greek in Lebanon, Ohio, in Mitchell, Indiana, and in other normal schools. She is a woman of culture and refine- ment and well educated. Her father died in 1907, aged eighty years, in DeKalb county. Her mother is still living at Auburn, Indiana, at the age of eighty-five. Mrs. Hastings is one of a family of eight children, Edith Laville, Mary E., Florence V. and a twin sister, Florida, who died when a young woman, Charles S. and Harry E. (twins), Minnie and Addie.
To Milton S. and Edith L. C. (Jackman) Hastings one child has been born, a daughter, Lois, who was graduated from the Washington high school, attended Butler College, at Indianapolis, and Indiana State Univer- sity, at Bloomington, from which last institution she also was graduated. She taught English in the Washington high school for two years. Lois Hastings married Oliver F. Slimp, of Cleveland, Ohio, and to this union has been born one child, a daughter, Edith Elizabeth.
Mr. and Mrs. Hastings are members of the Christian church, the con- gregation of which Mr. Hastings serves as deacon. He also is a teacher in the men's Bible class, in which there are over one hundred men enrolled. He belongs to Charity Lodge No. 30, Free and Accepted Masons; to Wash- ington Chapter No. 92, Royal Arch Masons; Washington Council, Royal and Select Masters, and to Washington Commandery No. 33, Knights Templar, of which latter society he was eminent commander during the years 1912 and 1913.
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