USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 66
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Among the Indians, for whom he gave his best thought and judgment during the later years of his life, Captain Downs built for himself a monu- ment of friendship, his invariable sympathy, kindness and courtesy in behalf of the wards of the nation winning for him their sincere regard and affec- tion. Captain Downs's service as a soldier during the dark hours of the nation's trial in the sixties was ever a source of satisfaction and pride to him and he always enjoyed the friendship and the greetings of his comrades
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of those stirring years. On one notable occasion the flag which he loved, honored and followed, came to his rescue at a time when his life was in extreme danger. That was during the uprising of the Utes at Thunder Butte, Cheyenne Agency, South Dakota, in November, 1907, when Captain Downs was at the mercy of the turbulent redskins for three days and nights, with but one companion, all others at the agency save his clerk having fled for safety. The Indians were insolent and sullen and threatened to shoot the whites and burn the agency buildings. Captain Downs and his clerk were far out on the reservation, ninety miles from the agency, and the nearest telephone station was fifty miles away Afterward, in speaking of his event- ual rescue, Captain Downs said that when he heard the tread of the rescuing party of troops and saw the old flag advancing at the head of the column, "Old Glory" appeared to him with a new aspect, if possible; it never had looked so good to him before-for it brought protection and safety.
Captain Downs's widow is still living at Connersville, where she has a very pleasant home and where she is very comfortably situated. It was on November 20, 1866, that Captain Downs, then not very long returned from his service in the army, was united in marriage, at Connersville, to Mary Jane Esman, who was born in that city on June 2, 1849, daughter of Jacob and Saloma ( Honhart) Esman, who became residents of Connersville dur- ing the early forties. Jacob Esman was born in Ermite, Alsace, then a German province, March 19, 1809, and was there trained to the trade of millwright. He served in the army of Louis Philippe and later came to the United States and at Warren, Pennsylvania, married Saloma Honhart, who was born in Arglesheim, Bavaria, Germany, December 16, 1816, and who had come to the United States with her brother in 1838, settling at Warren, Pennsylvania, where, three years later, she married Mr. Esman. Follow- ing their marriage Jacob Esman and wife came to Indiana, voyaging down the Ohio river by flatboat to Cincinnati and proceeding thence by wagon to Connersville, where they established their home and where they spent the remainder of their lives, honored and useful pioneer citizens. Jacob Esman became a citizen of the United States in 1844, his naturalization papers being issued by Amos Edwards, then clerk of Fayette county. He died at his home in Connersville on July 1, 1861; and his widow survived him for more than thirty-three years, her death occurring in Connersville on September 13, 1894.
To Thomas and Mary Jane (Esman) Downs five children were born, namely : Florence, wife of Martin Reifel, of Connersville; Susan Jane, wife of Charles A. Rieman, of Connersville; Augusta Ann, wife of Jesse
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B. Rhoads, also of that city; William Francis, who died at Connersville, October 30, 1888, and Dr. George Downs, of Spokane, Washington, who married Marie Seiling. Mrs. Downs has six grandchildren, namely: Gladys Rieman, wife of Robert C. Hamilton; Mildred Salome, wife of George M. Lennard; Mary Jane Rieman, Jane Augusta Reifel, Helen Downs Reifel and Thomas Downs.
BENJAMIN WALTER COLE.
Benjamin Walter Cole, former treasurer of Fayette county and present , assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Connersville, is a native son - of this county and has lived here practically all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in Waterloo township, near the old village of Waterloo, May 24, 1872, son of Joseph and Margaret (Thomas) Cole, for many years promi- nent and influential residents of the northeastern part of the county, who later moved to Connersville, where the former spent his last days and where the latter is now living.
Joseph Cole was born in the neighboring county of Wayne, a son of Joseph Jared and Patience (Foster) Cole, natives of Maryland, who moved from Wayne county to this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Joseph J. Cole at one time owned about one thousand acres of land, but lost the greater part of his fortune in the pork-packing business. He and his wife were the parents of six children, Mrs. Ann Farrey, Mrs. Frances Har- lan, Alfred, Mrs. Sarah Burris, Joseph and Mrs. Sophia Jones. Joseph Cole grew to manhood in this county and married Margaret Thomas, who was born in this county, daughter of Benjamin Thomas and wife, who came here from Maine in pioneer days and reared a large family, their children having been Mrs. Jane Carson, Mrs. Sallie Coss, Mrs. Margaret Cole, Samuel, Austin, Oliver, Walter, Scott and Mrs. Catherine Drischel. Joseph Cole became a substantial farmer in Waterloo township, the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and fifty-seven acres there, where he lived until 1906, when he retired from the farm and moved to Connersville, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on June 16, 1914, he then being seventy years and ten months of age. His widow still survives him and is making her home in Connersville, where she is very pleasantly situated. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has ever taken a warm inter- est in church work. Joseph Cole was for years actively identified with the
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county's political affairs and was for six years trustee of Waterloo township. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being as follow: Harry, who died in infancy ; Maude, who married Ellis Filby, of Cambridge City, this state; Effie, wife of Reece D. Eby, of Connersville, and Joseph J. Cole, president of the Cole Motor Car Company, of Indianapolis.
Benjamin W. Cole was reared on the paternal farm in Waterloo town- ship and received his elementary schooling in the district schools in the neighborhood of his home, supplementing the same by a course in the business college at Richmond, from which he was graduated in 1901. He then was engaged on the farm for a couple of years, at the end of which time he became a traveling salesman and was thus engaged for one year, after which he became an agent for the Parry Manufacturing Company and was for five years engaged in the buggy business, at the end of which time he went to St. Louis and there spent a year, later spending some months at Chicago and at Cincinnati, after which he resumed the buggy business and was thus engaged at Connersville for two years, at the end of which time he returned to the farm and was there engaged in farming for seven years, or until his election to the office of treasurer of Fayette county in November, 1914. Mr. Cole entered upon the duties of his office on January 1, 1915, and served the public in that important capacity until January 1, 1917. As an instance of Mr. Cole's popularity among the voters of Fayette county, it may be stated that he is the only Democrat elected to the office of county treasurer in this county for the past five years. He has for years taken an active interest in local political affairs and has long been regarded as one of the leaders of the Democratic party in this county. Upon the expiration of his term of public office Mr. Cole was elected assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Connersville and is now serving in that responsible capacity.
On March 14, 1907, Benjamin W. Cole was united in marriage to Eliza- beth Sparks, who was born on a farm one and one-half miles southeast of Connersville, in this county, in 1879, daughter of Milton T. and Minnie (Campbell) Sparks, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio, who were the parents of five children, those besides Mrs. Cole, the second in order of birth, being William E., Mrs. Pearl Williams, Mrs. Charity Rudd and Webster Sparks. Mrs. Cole is a member of the Christian church and Mr. Cole is a Mason, a member of Warren Lodge No. 15, Free and Accepted Masons, and a member of Connersville Lodge No. 379, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, and of Aerie No. 1065, Fraternal Order of Eagles, in
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the affairs of all of which organizations he takes a warm and active interest. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have a very pleasant home at Connersville and take a proper part in the city's general social activities.
MISS ISABEL BONBRAKE CRESSLER.
Miss Isabel Bonbrake Cressler, one of the founders and owners of the Elmhurst School for Girls at Connersville, is descended, on the paternal side, from nobility of the Rhine country, and, on the maternal side, from English and Welsh pioneers prominently identified with the early colonization of Pennsylvania. She was born at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Charles H. and Elizabeth Sager (Jones) Cressler, and grew to womanhood there.
Miss Cressler attended the public schools of Chambersburg; and later was a student at Wilson College, one of the pioneer institutions for the higher education of women, and located in Chambersburg. After finishing her studies at Wilson Miss Cressler entered the Chicago Art Institute, and after a year of study there returned to Chambersburg and there opened and con- ducted, as owner, a Latin school for boys and girls, and was thus engaged for six years, at the end of which time she was called to Wilson College and for two years was a member of the faculty of that institution. Miss Cressler then went to Europe and for four years was associated in owner- ship and management with the Roman School for American Girls at Rome, Italy, a private school for American girls who had come from the finishing schools of the United States, the course in the same including seven months of schooling and five months of European travel each year-a delightful work and one requiring great self-reliance on the part of the preceptress.
While thus engaged in Rome Miss Cressler, who was planning to return eventually to America and develop a certain type of high-grade rural private school which should express the best in American life, heard first of the Elmhurst property ; and without any plan of remaining, arrived in Conners- ville, in July, 1909, accompanied by Miss Sumner, and with no other luggage than suit cases, to look over the estate. Miss Cressler was so charmed and delighted with the situation and so filled with enthusiasm over the prospect that was there opened for establishing and developing a country school for American girls that she straightway decided to remain. She dispatched at once for her trunks and her three servants in Italy and for two years did not
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leave Connersville; nor has she ever had occasion to regret her choice, for as one of the founders and owners of Elmhurst she has been privileged to see the slow but sure development of ideas and plans fostered during her years of residence and study in Europe.
Miss Cressler is a member of the Episcopal church. She also is a member of the College Art Association and of the Alumnae Association of Wilson College, and is interested in the equal-suffrage work of Indiana.
B. R. SMITH, M. D.
Dr. B. R. Smith, a well-known practicing physician at Connersville, is a native Hoosier and has lived in this state the greater part of his life. He was born at Milroy, in the neighboring county of Rush, February 1, 1879, a son of S. R. and Catherine (Richey) Smith, both of whom were born in that same county. S. R. Smith was a machinist and followed that vocation all his life. He and his wife were the parents of two sons, the subject of this sketch having a brother, the Rev. William F. Smith, D. D., who was formerly pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Connersville.
Reared at Milroy, B. R. Smith received his elementary schooling in the schools of that place and was graduated from the high school there in 1896. He then entered Moores Hill College and was graduated from that institution, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1900. Thus equipped by preliminary study he entered the Medical College of the University of Kentucky at Louis- ville and was graduated from the same in 1903, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Upon receiving his degree Doctor Smith was appointed an interne at the hospital of his alma mater and after a year's valuable experi- ence in practice there opened an office for the practice of his profession at Clay City, Kentucky, where he remained in practice for seven years, or until 1910, when he returned to Indiana and opened an office at Connersville, where he ever since has been engaged in practice and where he has done very well, having built up an extensive practice in the city and surrounding country. Doctor Smith keeps fully abreast of the modern advances in his profession and is a member of the Fayette County Medical Society and of the Indiana State Medical Association, in the deliberations of both of which bodies he takes a warm interest.
In 1907 Doctor Smith was united in marriage to Laura Askin, daugh- ter of the late Thomas Askin and wife, the latter now also deceased, and to
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this union four children have been born, three of whom are living, B. R., Jr., Charles Thomas and Charlotte Catherine. Doctor and Mrs. Smith are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. The Doctor is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias.
VINCENT HAMILTON GREGG, M. D.
During his day and generation in Connersville there were few men bet- ter known or held in higher regard hereabout than was the late Dr. Vincent Hamilton Gregg, who began the practice of his profession at Glenwood in 1855 and three years later located at Connersville, where he spent the remainder of his life, an earnest, conscientious, painstaking physician, his good work in that community being continued until the time of his death in 1895. During the Civil War Doctor Gregg held a commission from Gov- ernor Morton as an army surgeon and in that important capacity rendered a beneficent and humane service in behalf of the wounded and suffering soldiers who were placed under his benign care. In that service he was greatly aided by his faithful wife, who was at his side much of the time during that trying period and who is still living at Connersville, honored by the entire community.
Dr. Vincent H. Gregg was a Kentuckian, born in Bracken county, that state, in 1824, a son of Joseph M. Gregg and wife, the latter of whom was a Hamilton. Joseph M. Gregg was the proprietor of an extensive planta- tion in that county and a slaveholder. He died in that county and after his death his widow disposed of her interests in Kentucky and came up into Indiana, locating in Rush county, where she spent the remainder of her life. Of the children born to Joseph M. Gregg and wife all have long since been dead. Of these children . Doctor Gregg was the first-born and was the last survivor. He was twenty-two years of age when he came to Indiana with his mother and as the eldest child of his widowed mother was a great stay and comfort to her. Some time after coming to Indiana he determined upon a career as a physician and after a course of study in preparation for such a career began practice, in 1855, with Doctor Taylor at Glenwood. Three years later, in 1858, he moved to Connersville, where he opened an office for the practice of his profession and where he ever afterward made his home. Doctor Gregg was living at Connersville when the Civil War broke out and by that time had attained a wide reputation throughout this part of the state
VINCENT H. GREGG, M. D.
MRS. AMERICA JUSTICE GREGG.
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as a careful and prudent physician and a skilled surgeon. In 1862 Governor Morton tendered him a commission as an army surgeon and he served in that capacity until the close of the war, his service in field and in hospital enshrin- ing his memory in the hearts of many a poor soldier boy who came under his gentle ministrations. In this service, as noted above, the good Doctor's gentle wife rendered him aid of a particularly valuable character and she, too, is remembered with gratitude by many of the veterans of that stern conflict between the states during the sixties. Upon the completion of his army service Doctor Gregg returned to Connersville and there resumed his practice. Not long afterward he formed a partnership with Doctor Rolls in the drug business and was thus engaged for years, conducting the drug store in addition to his general medical practice. Doctor Gregg was a most liberal and public-spirited citizen and did much to promote the interests of his home city in a material as well as in a religious, social and civic way. An ardent Republican, he ever gave his earnest attention to the political affairs of Fayette county and of the city of Connersville and was recognized as a power for good in local politics. He was a member of the Christian church, as is his widow, and was ever a leader in local good works. As an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Doctor ever took an earnest part in the affairs of that patriotic organization and for years was a familiar figure at local reunions of the veterans of the war and at the state encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic. Doctor Gregg passed from the scenes of earth on September 12, 1895, he then being in the seventy-second year of his age, and he was given burial as befit a veteran of his country's wars and a good citizen of the community in whose behalf he had so long and so earnestly labored.
Dr. Vincent H. Gregg was united in marriage, in this county, to America Justice, who was born in Fayette county, daughter of Joseph and Delilah (Fuell) Justice, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Vir- ginia. Joseph Justice grew to manhood in his native Pennsylvania and later went to Kentucky, where he married Delilah Fuell, who had moved to that state with her parents, of French stock, from Virginia. Not long after his marriage Joseph Justice came up into Indiana and settled on a farmi in this county, near Orange, where he presently opened a general store, early becoming one of the best-known men in that part of the county, as he was one of the most successful and influential. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom Mrs. Gregg, the youngest, is now the only survivor. Joseph Justice died on his farm
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near Orange and his widow spent her last days in the household of Doctor and Mrs. Gregg at Connersville. Joseph Justice was a son of James Justice, a soldier of the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, who served with General Washington's army during all the long struggle of the colonies for independence. He was one of five brothers who served in that struggle from Pennsylvania and was the only one of the five who survived the struggle. James Justice lived to be one hundred and one years of age and his last days were spent in the home of his son, John Justice, in this county, where he is buried. He was a fine, large man of powerful physique, weighing more than two hundred pounds, and his four brothers, who fought for the independence of the colonies at his side, were men of equal might. Mrs. Gregg, who is still living at Connersville, is a member of the Christian church and her life has ever been devoted to good works.
WILLIAM HENDRICKSON.
William Hendrickson, sheriff of Fayette county and one of the best- known men in the county, is a native son of this county and has lived here all his life. He was born in the city of Connersville on March 6, 1876, son of James Brookfield and Rebecca Ann ( Hutchinson) Hendrickson, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio, whose last days were spent in Connersville, which was their home for many years.
James Brookfield Hendrickson was born on a pioneer farm in the neigh- boring county of Franklin, one of the eight children born to his parents, John and Rachel (Goble) Hendrickson, the former of whom was a native of the state of New Jersey and the latter of Indiana. James B. Hendrickson was trained to the trade of a saddler and was working at that trade in Ripley county when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted as a member of Company H, Eighty-second Regiment,. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was elected color bearer of that command and served for three years and six months. During his long service Mr. Hendrickson saw much active service and was engaged in some of the most exciting engagements of the war, but never received a bullet wound, though he was badly injured on several occasions, particularly so at the battle of Resaca. Upon the conclusion of his military service James B. Hendrickson located at Laurel and was there engaged in the tanning business until that industry became unprofitable, after which he moved to Connersville, along in the middle seventies, and there engaged in carriage-
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painting, a vocation he followed the rest of his life. He died at his home in Connersville on December 24. 1895, he then being sixty-two years of age. His widow survived him for more than ten years, her death occurring in 1906, she also being sixty-two years of age at the time of her death. She was born in Ohio, a daughter of Asbury and Mary Hutchinson, who came over from that state into Indiana and became pioneers of Brown county, settling on a farm there and spending the rest of their lives in that county, both living to a ripe old age. Asbury Hutchinson and wife were the parents of six children, those besides Mrs. Hendrickson having been John Aaron, Mrs. Mary Johnson, William and Mrs. Ella Gray. James B. Hendrickson and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being. Charles, of Hamilton, Ohio; Edward, formerly of Indianapolis, now deceased; Oscar, of Connersville; Geneva, who married Walter Hayward, of Connersville; Ella, who married Harry Backert, of Kokomo, and is now deceased, and Bismark, of Connersville.
William Hendrickson received his schooling in the public schools of Connersville and early turned his attention to the trade of a carriage-trimmer which he followed for twenty-five years, thirteen years of which time he was engaged in the establishment of J. B. McFarlan. From the days of his boy- hood he has given his earnest attention to local political affairs and at the early age of eighteen was made a member of the Fayette county Republican central committee and has ever since held that position, performing an excel- lent service in behalf of the party in this county. In 1914, as the nominee of the Republican party, Mr. Hendrickson was elected sheriff of Fayette county, the youngest sheriff ever elected in this county. He entered upon the duties of that office on January 1, 1915, and is now serving in that important public capacity, one of the most popular officials in the court house.
On December 24, 1898, William Hendrickson was united in marriage to Grace M. Bell, who was born on a farm near Brownsville, in the neighbor- ing county of Union. May 23, 1876, daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Thomas) Bell, both natives of that same county, the former of whom died in 1881 and the latter of whom is still living. Jacob Bell was a farmer and stock buyer and was a son of John F. and Ann (Carr) Bell, natives of Butler county, Ohio, and pioneers in Union county, this state, who were the parents of six children, Malinda, James, Alfred, Jacob, Emma and George. Mrs. Margaret Bell's parents were John and Margaret J. (Whitinger ) Thomas, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana, who were the par-
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ents of nine children, Russell, John, Mary Ann, Elijah, James, Henry, Rachel, Milton and Margaret. Jacob Bell and wife were the parents of four chil- dren, of whom Mrs. Hendrickson was the last-born, the others being Carrie, who married Lee Cully, of Brownsville, and John F. Bell and Frank T. Bell. To Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson one child has been born, a son, Frank Brook- field Hendrickson. The Hendricksons are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church and take a proper interest in church work, as well as in the general social activities of their home town.
J. H. JOHNSON, M. D.
Dr. J. H. Johnson, homeopath, one of the best-known physicians in Connersville, is a native son of Indiana, born at Dale, in Spencer county, April 6, 1871, a son of Dr. Samuel F. Johnson, an honored veteran of the Civil War, a former legislator and for many years one of the best-known and most influential men in that part of the state.
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