USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 70
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Harry Emmert grew up in the milling business of his father. having worked in his father's mill from the time he was a small lad. In the mean- time he received a liberal education in the public and high schools of Greens- burg, and when finishing high school was reasonably well equipped for a business career. At the age of twenty-eight he became manager of the Greensburg Water Company, and with the growth of this company he also has grown as a business man, having become, in the meantime, president of the Citizens Gas Supply Company, a fifteen thousand dollar corporation, president of the Sand Creek Gas Company, a five thousand dollar corpora- tion, which supplies natural gas to the Citizens Gas Supply Company, besides being extensively interested in other important local enterprises.
Mr. Emmert has never married. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. and the Benevolent and Protective ·Order of Elks.
Water, as we all know, is a public utility and a public convenience and
-
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necessity, and the man who is responsible for furnishing pure, clean water to the people of a city, performs a greater service than a man can perform in almost any other way. Mr. Emmert is a skilled manager, and being sup- plied with the best equipment, he naturally is in a position to maintain cordial relations with the public. In the city of Greensburg he is very popular ..
NELSON MOWREY.
Decatur county has produced men who have risen to distinction in many different fields of endeavor, but it is safe to say that no man has made a more pronounced success of agriculture than Nelson Mowrey. Born in this county more than eighty years ago, he has made it his life-long resi- dence and has never cared to exchange it for any other home. Decatur county has been good enough for him.
There is probably no other occupation which yields the certain returns that may come to the farmer, and the striking success which has attended the efforts of Mr. Mowrey are ample evidence that he has applied his ener- gies in such a way as to produce maximum results. Starting out in life with only a small competency he has labored to the end that he has accu- mulated more material wealth from the soil than any other farmer who has ever tilled the soil in the county.
But it is not mere wealth which makes a man. If it were. there would be no outcry against the men of wealth in this country today. It is the use of the wealth once gained which marks the true AAmerican citizen, and it is in this particular that Mr. Mowrey stands high in the estimation of his fellow citizens. More than one church in the county can testify to his generosity; more than one congregation in the county today is doing the Master's work better and more efficiently because of the broad philanthro- pic spirit of Mr. Mowrey. The crowning act of Mr. Mowrey, however, which shows his worth as a public-spirited citizen was his gift to the city of Greensburg which made the magnificent new Young Men's Christian Association building a possibility. This was erected in 1915, solely through the munificence of Mr. Mowrey and will stand as a monument through many generations yet to come. Thus it may be seen why Mr. Mowrey merits the title of the "Grand old man of Greensburg."
Nelson Mowrey, the son of Joel and Priscilla (King) Mowrey, was born on July 30, 1832, in Clay township, Decatur county, Indiana. His
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father, a native of Kentucky, was a thrifty citizen for his day and genera- tion and when he came from Kentucky to Decatur county in the early twell- ties, he at once set about to carve a place out of the primeval wilderness. Here he and his good wife lived until their death, he passing away in 1834. when Nelson was only two years of age. The mother was left with a fani- ily of four children, Nelson being the youngest. The other three children, John L., Malinda Jane and Thurza Ann, are deceased. Nelson was born. in a log cabin which is still standing. His mother lived to a ripe old age, dying at the age of seventy-eight in 1880.
Educational opportunities were exceedingly meager in the boyhood days of Mr. Mowrey. The old-fashioned log school house was still in vogue and the only school was what was known as the subscription school and was in session seldom more than three months in the year. It is a well-known fact that the long nine months' vacation often caused the youngsters of that day to forget practically all that they had learned in the short three imonths that they were permitted to attend during the winter season. Nevertheless, Mr. Mowrey got a good knowledge of the elements of the "Three R's" in such a school and this was supplemented by wide reading in later life so that he became a well-informed man. He continued to reside on the home farm with his mother and the other members of the family until he was twenty-four years of age, at which time he was given his share in the pater- nal estate, which amounted to fourteen hundred dollars, and with this small amount he started out to make his way alone in the world. It is not the purpose of this brief summary of Mr. Mowrey's life to follow his career in detail through the long years which have followed. Only the larger landmarks in his career will be noticed.
On March 1, 1857, Mr. Mowrey moved to a farm one and one-half miles south of the old home place and six miles west of Greensburg. This farm of eighty acres was soon increased by the purchase of one hundred and forty-five acres, and on this' farin of two hundred and twenty-five acres, he lived until 1887. In the meantime he had been buying land in other parts of the county and in 1887 he moved on to one of his eighty-acre farms in Clay township. Year after year saw his acreage increase until he had accumulated twenty-eight hundred acres of land in the county.
The acquisition of such an extensive estate could only come about by the closest application and the widest foresight. Much of the wealth of Mr. Mowrey has come about by the natural increase in the value of his land, much of which has increased several fold in value since he acquired it. Mr. Mowrey continued in the active management of his extensive farming
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interests until his marriage in the fall of 1907, since which time he has made his home in Greensburg.
. Mr. Mowrey was married on October 2, 1907, to Carrie F. Seitz, who was born in Patriot, Indiana, a daughter of Michael and Sophia Seitz. Her parents were natives of Germany and first located in Switzerland county, Indiana, upon coming to this country. A few years later they set- tled in Dearborn county where they made their home the remainder of their lives.
The career of Mr. Mowrey has been altogether too active as a farmer and financier to permit of any participation in politics. He has always been identified with the Republican party and given it his hearty support at all times. While he leans to the Christian church, yet he has been a generous contributor to all denominations. Fraternally, he has been a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Milford for many years.
WALTER W. BONNER.
The life of every man is influenced by two factors, heredity and envi- ronment, and no one can say which of these two factors has the most to do with determining the career of a man. Fortunate, indeed, is the man who has good blood in his veins, for undoubtedly, as the old adage says, "Blood will tell." However, there are too many exceptions to the statement that heredity counts for everything; too many men of the Lincoln type have risen to fame to believe that heredity accounts for all our eminent men. Environment must be given credit for many things and he who says that one or the other factor makes a man assumes a knowledge of men which the facts will not warrant. The career of Walter W. Bonner happily illus- trates a combination of heredity and environment and in his case both factors have united in such a manner as to make him a man of the highest type of American citizenship.
Starting in life as a lawyer, Mr. Bonner soon left the profession to enter banking and has made this his life-long work. For more than thirty years he has been identified with the Third National Bank of Greensburg.
Walter W. Bonner was born near Springhill, Decatur county, Indiana, on July 30, 1860, a son of William H. and Narcissa E. (Elliott) Bonner. His father was born in Wilcox county, Alabama, a son of James and Mary P. (Foster) Bonner, who came with his parents to Decatur county in 1836.
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The father of James Bonner was a Scotch Presbyterian and left his home in the north of Ireland toward the end of the eighteenth century. He came to America and settled on a plantation near Anderson, South Carolina, not far from the historic old plantation which was destined in after years to become the home of John C. Calhoun, and there James Bonner was born. The latter was reared near Abbeville, South Carolina, and there married Mary P. Foster, whose father, James Foster, was born in the north of Ire- land, and who became a farmer after his migration to South Carolina and in 1837 came to this county, settling on a farm in the Springhill neighbor- hood, where he spent the rest of his life. Two years after his marriage James Bonner moved to Wilcox county, Alabama, where he dwelt for six- teen years, owning and operating a large plantation, the work of which was performed by slaves. Coming to hate the institution of slavery, he sold his slaves in a body to his brother and, in the spring of 1836, came to this county, becoming a large farmer in Fugit township, where he died at the age of fifty-five. Mary, the wife, died in 1837, where he was married a second time. James Bonner was the father of six children, two daughters who died in early womanhood, James F., Dr. John I., William H., father of the immediate subject of this sketch, and Robert, who died in childhood.
William H. Bonner was reared on the home farm near Springhill and was a farmer all his life. He became a man of large influence in the county and in 1868 was elected representative from this county to the state Legis- lature. He served one term in a manner very acceptable to his constituents, but declined a re-nomination. Hon. William H. Bonner for many years was one of the leaders of the Republican party in this part of the state and was influential in all good ways. He was a member of the United Presby- terian church and served for many years as a ruling elder of the local con- gregation. He was twice married, his first wife having been Elmira L. Hamilton, a sister of Thomas M. Hamilton. Upon her death, he married, secondly, Narcissa E. Elliott, to which union there were born two sons and one daughter, Henry E., a farmer of this county; Walter W., with whom this biography directly treats, and Mary F. The Hon. William H. Bonner died on August 12, 1874.
Walter W. Bonner was educated in the district schools of Fugit town- ship and in Indiana University at Bloomington. In the year 1881 he began studying law in the office of Miller & Gavin, in Greensburg, and in 1882 was admitted to practice at the bar of the Decatur circuit court. He did not practice law very long, however, for when the Third National Bank was opened at Greensburg he entered that institution as a bookkeeper and
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in 1884 was promoted to the position of assistant cashier, being advanced to the responsible position of cashier on February 3, 1887, which position he since has held, his services having proved most satisfactory to the direc- tors of this excellent financial institution.
On September 15, 1884, Walter W. Bonner was united in marriage to Libbie Donnell, of Springhill, to which union there was born one child, a daughter, Ruth, who married Homer G. Meek and has one child, Mary Lois.
Mr. Bonner is one of the best-known and most successful financiers in this part of the state. To his excellent direction of affairs undoubtedly is due much of the strength of the sound financial institution with which he is connected and he has the utmost confidence of all business men through- out this part of the state.
THOMAS KNOX SMILEY.
Nearing the three-score-and-ten mark along the highway of life, calm and serene, at peace with the world and a lover of all mankind, there is one man in Decatur county to whom the incidental worries and vexations that at times beset most mortals mean very little, for his philosophy of life con- tains no room for the word "worry." Living nearly half a century on the farm on which he still makes his home, he is known to everyone in the part of the county in which he resides, and, as he is a friend of all, all are friends to him, few persons thereabout having a wider personal popularity than he. Jovial, genial, sunny-tempered and full of the joy of living ; pros- perous and well-circumstanced. possessed of a fine farm of two hundred and thirty-eight acres of choice land in Clay township, on which he lives a life of quiet ease, enjoying the evening of his life as he well deserves to enjoy it; T. K. Smiley, better known to his neighbors and friends as Knox Smiley, is regarded by many as a most fortunate man. A good citizen, a kind and generous neighbor, public-spirited and enterprising, Mr. Smiley has done his part in the advancement of the best interests of the commun- ity of which he so long has been a part, and it is a pleasure on the part of the biographer to here present a few of the salient points in his life.
Thomas Knox Smiley was born in the state of Ohio on May 30, 1846, the son of William and Mary Ann (Kenny) Smiley, both of whom were of Irish descent. William Smiley's father emigrated from Ireland to this country and settled in Pennsylvania, where he reared a family and spent the remainder of his days. Mary Ann Kenny was born in New Jersey.
THOMAS K. SMILEY.
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Her mother was a Boston woman, and from a nearby hill was an interested spectator of the battle of Bunker Hill, the presumption being that her hus- band, in common with most of the patriots of that city, was a participant in that historic struggle. Later the Kennys moved from New Jersey, to which latter state they had emigrated from Massachusetts, to Ohio, where the parents of Mrs. Smiley spent the rest of their lives.
William Smiley was born in Pennsylvania on March 14, 1814, the son of Irish parents, and upon reaching manhood's estate moved to Ohio, where he married Mary Ann Kenny about the year 1838, and on January 9, 1849, came to Decatur county, settling in Clay township on what is now known as the Smiley homestead. He bought land at that time for ten dollars an acre that now is worth more than ten times that price. William Smiley was a man of strong character, a stanch and upright citizen and an excellent farmer. He was energetic and enterprising and speedily began to prosper, eventually becoming the owner of nine hundred or one thousand acres of land in Clay township and gaining the reputation of being one of the shrewd- est business men in that part of the county. He and his wife were members of the Methodist church and their children were reared in that faith. Mr. Smiley was an ardent Democrat and took an active interest in political affairs. In one election years ago he was the candidate of his party for the office of county commissioner from his district, and despite the fact that the county at that time returned an overwhelming Republican majority, he was defeated by but two votes, a circumstance which attested unmistakably his popularity throughout the county. As their children grew to manhood and womanhood, Mr. and Mrs. Smiley divided their large land holdings among them and for nearly twenty years lived a life of pleasant retirement in the city of Greensburg. Mr. Smiley died in Greensburg in June, 1893, at the age of seventy-nine years. His widow survived him just three years and she also died at the age of seventy-nine. They were a most estimable old couple and the memory of their wholesome lives and good deeds lives long after them.
To William and Mary Ann (Kenny) Smiley were born the following children : Permelia, deceased, who was the wife of James L. Henry; Caro- line, who married Edward Sefton: George W., deceased, father of William G. Smiley, who died in 1907, on the old Smiley homestead and was a very successful farmer, being the owner of seven hundred acres of fine land; Harvey K. married a daughter of John E. Robbins and died in 1915: Thomas Knox, the immediate subject of this sketch; William F., who lives (47)
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in Greensburg, this county; Mary, who died in August, 1914; Sovereign Patrick, who lives in Texas, and Margaret, the widow of William Johnson.
Thomas Knox Smiley has always lived the life of a bachelor. and makes his home with Frank Jalop and wife on the old Smiley homestead, three and one-half miles southwest of the village of Burney, on the Greens- burg and Columbus road. He is a member of the Methodist church at Hartsville and was one of the charter members of the Knights of Pythias. lodge at the same place. He is a Democrat and takes an earnest interest in political affairs, but has never sought office. He became the owner of a goodly farm in the distribution of the home acres, but to his share he has added one hundred and twenty acres, acquired by his own industry, and is very well circumstanced. Though still giving careful attention to the gen- eral details of his extensive farming operations, Mr. Smiley for the past ten years has lived practically retired from the active duties of the farm and is taking life easy. The good cheer which he brings into his intercourse with his neighbors, makes him a prime favorite in the neighborhood and no one thereabout is more popular than he.
JAMES FRANCIS HAMILTON.
A noted Iloosier historian has said, "There is but one end in life that is worth while, and that is to conquer adversity, pain, envy, regrets, ambi- tions, and the varied obstacles that are put in our path to develop our forti- tude, our courage and our brains." If this be true, the life of the man whose name appears above has been eminently worth while, for he has grad- nated from the "University of Hard Knocks." He knows the joys of suc- cess. the bitterness of misfortune, and has the mental poise to meet both like a man. When but a lad he was called upon to face disappointment. to give up his own education that he might help a bereaved father to care for six younger brothers and sisters, but this he did without a murmur. and thus perhaps were forged the elements of character which later con- tributed to his success as a man, and in relation to society. James Francis Hamilton, the well-known merchant and undertaker of Westport, was born on August 17, 1869. in the town in which his past and present home is located.
Mr. Hamilton's grandfather on the paternal side came from Kentucky to clear and enter the land which became the homestead of this noted family.
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This man, James F. Hamilton, was of the stalwart nature of which pioneers are made, and was an ancestor of whom any descendant might be proud. He was born in 1803, and passed away at the age of seventy years. It was in the early thirties when he and his bride, formerly Judah Owens, came to Decatur county, and began planning for the home that was destined to remain in the family for the next thirty-five years. This land was situated one and one-half miles northwest of Westport. The brave wife of this sturdy pioneer, who was a native of Virginia, was born on December 14, 1799, and died on June 20, 1898. One of their children was George W., who later became the father of the subject of this brief biography. George was born on May 10, 1837, and died on July 29, 1899. His wife, Mary Jane Conwell, who was born on February 3, 1847, belonged to one of the most prominent families in the state. Her Western progenitors formed part of that brave band of pioneers whose courage and heroism in opening up a new and rugged country has made it possible for us to live in peace and plenty. George, of course, was born on the farm of his parents, and after the meager school course then provided, he managed a store in Gay- norsville for four years beginning in 1869. He then became a salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, engaging in this occupation until 1883, when his health became broken and he retired. There were seven children, the eldest of whom was only a lad in short trousers. The children thus early deprived of a father's care were: James Francis, our subject ; Clara Maude, who died in September, 1895; Clem E., a farmer of Marion township; John C., of Greensburg ; Charles L., who later became a railroad man with headquarters in Indianapolis: George C., employed in a furniture store, and Mary V., who lives in Westport with her mother.
After May 20, 1882, James had to assume duties heavy for the shoul- ders of thirteen summers, and there followed days of toil and nights of dull weariness that tested the courage of the manly little fellow. He attended school until his thirteenth year, and then was obliged to put his books on the shelf and to go on errands for a storekeeper, moving to West- port that he might be near his work. The qualities that afterward made him a prosperous merchant and bank official early began to assert them- selves, and his weekly earnings were soon a very substantial increase to the family budget which was to shelter, feed and clothe six little brothers and sisters. James remained an employee of the storekeeper until he went into business for himself, which happened when he was twenty-three years of age. Then he became a merchant in the flour and feed business, continuing this for five years. On January 20, 1897, he had an opportunity to buy
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out an undertaking establishment, which he did, adding to this, two months later, a furniture store. So rapidly did his business grow that new quarters became necessary, and on May 13, 1914, ground was broken for a hand- some two-story brick structure, forty-two by seventy feet. While the whole building, including two floors and basement, is used for store purposes, it is so conveniently arranged that there are two separate departments for the furniture and undertaking business, respectively. The cost of the house was over twelve thousand dollars. Thorough in everything that he does, Mr. Hamilton has spared no pains in the construction and equipment of this handsome business block, which is one of the finest in southern Indiana. A private office, a casket display and dressing room comprise the under- taking department, which maintains two funeral wagons and an ambulance besides a splendid team which is owned and kept by Mr. Hamilton. The basement is appropriately built and arranged for the display of rugs and draperies, while the third floor is taken up with furniture. The building has a modern elevator, and its own electric light and water plant. The owner carries stock valued at ten thousand dollars.
The wife of Mr. Hamilton was formerly Mary M. Link, a daughter of John Link, of Milhousen. The marriage occurred on November 22, 1893. Their only daughter, Leona J., who is nineteen years of age, having been born on May 6, 1896, is a graduate of the Westport high school, being a member of the class of 1914.
Mr. Hamilton is one of the "live wires" of Decatur county. He first plans out carefully a course of action, and, having determined upon what ought to be done, he does it. In business he is alert and progressive, as is evidenced by the fact that he believes in advertising, and spends large sums of money for this purpose. As an illustration of his energy and will-power may be cited the fact that when he was ready to build, a dwelling which stood in the way was unceremoniously removed. although it had stood firmly on one spot since 1838.
No higher lionor can be paid to a business man by any community than to make him president of its chamber of commerce. This mark of esteem has been bestowed upon Mr. Hamilton because of his merit. Besides being the head official of the Westport Chamber of Commerce, he is vice- president of the First National Bank of that town, and in this capacity has added influence to the community.
As it seems impossible to classify a man before we know what lie believes as to politics and religion, it may be of interest to note that Mr. Hamilton is an ardent Democrat, and a member of St. Denis's Catholic
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church. He is also active in the Knights of Columbus, Council 1042. Here, as in business circles, his business acumen, as well as the qualities which go to make up the sort of man we respect, make him a leader. He becomes a power in whatever organization or movement to which he gives his name.
In all of the activities of her husband Mrs. Hamilton has been per- haps a silent, but a potent partner. In the conflicts and problems of a strenuous life, it has been her pleasure to co-operate, and in making their home a real home to lighten the burdens and cares of the outside world into which every man is forced to go.
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