History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 71

Author: Reifel, August J
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1648

USA > Indiana > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 71

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On August 15, 1892. Mr. Schultze was married to Elizabeth Kelly of Union county, Indiana, a daughter of Kosciusko and Mary (Templeton) Kelly, both of whom are now dead. They were members of pioneer families of Union county and were prominent in the social and economic life of that county. To Mr. and Mrs. Schultze have been born the following chil-

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dren : Paul W., born August 9, 1893, living at Laurel and assisting his father in farm work, married to Adria Lockwood: Edward B., born February 23, 1897, now attending high school at Chicago, Illinois; Josephine, born November 21, 1898, also attending high school at Chicago; Chester L., born May 27, 1904, and Elmer Lee born July 1, 191I.

Mr. Schultze is a member of Laurel Lodge No. 447, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Indianapolis Consistory. Mr. Schultze and family are numbered among the foremost families of this county, where they stand high in the regard of all who know them. They have a delightful family and are the centre of a large circle of admiring friends.

JOHN O'HAIR.

To live more than one-half of a century in the house one is born in is in itself an interesting part of the local history of the locality in which one lives. To be born and to live a long and useful life and then to be gathered to one's fathers, all in the same house, is a privilege reserved only for the very few. This turbulent world that casts us to and fro on the billows of chance and its caprices, wafts the most of us from the place of our infancy, often separating us forever from all those we hold dear. To the late John O'Hair, of Laurel, Indiana, was given the rare good fortune to spend al- most his entire life in, and to die in the house of his birth.

John O'Hair was born in Laurel, Indiana, September 27, 1853, and died November 28, 1914. He was a son of James and Mary Jane (Hazel- rigg) O'Hair. His father was a native of Trenton, New Jersey, and his mother was born in Kentucky. John O'Hair was one of the twelve children of James and Mary O'Hair: Lillian, Katherine, Alice, Belle, Zella, Gussie, John, George, Edward, Walter and two who died in infancy. Of these children, Lillian married James A. Pritchard; Katherine married a Mr. Stout ; Alice, Belle, Gussie and Zella remain single, the latter being a teacher of English in the Shortridge high school at Indianapolis; George also lives at Indianapolis; Edward, who was a prominent attorney at Brookville, In- diana, is dead, and Walter was drowned when but ten years of age.

James O'Hair, father of John O'Hair, was a son of Patrick O'Hair, a native of Ireland, who came to this country when quite young and married Margaret Dempsey of New Jersey. James O'Hair was one of three chil- dren of this union: William, who died when a young man; Elizabeth, who married a Mr. McWilliams and lived at Urbana, Illinois, and James. The

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latter early in life was apprenticed to an iron-molder, working in Thomas Sweeney's foundry at Wheeling, West Virginia. After completing this apprenticeship he went to Zanesville, Ohio, and worked for two years at his trade in that city. He left Zanesville and removed to a place known as Coal Run, located in Washington county, Ohio. At this place he purchased an interest in a foundry, operating it for four or five months. He later dis- mantled this foundry and moved it by flat boat down the Ohio river to Pomeroy, Ohio. He afterwards sold his interest to his partner, receiving in return a tract of land located about eight miles from Columbus. He later sold this for eleven hundred dollars, after which he lived for eighteen months at McConnelsville, Ohio. In 1845 he came to Franklin county, Indiana, locating in Laurel. Here he erected the Laurel Iron Foundry, having it in operation in 1846. This was the first iron foundry in Whitewater valley and was continuously operated by Mr. O'Hair for thirty-five years. In addition to his large iron-molding business, he manufactured plows and threshing machines. On September 20, 1848, Mr. O'Hair was married and during the same year built the brick house, still standing on the corner just east of the schoolhouse in Laurel. He also built a number of houses for the occupancy of his employees. These were erected in the south part of Laurel. During the Civil War, James O'Hair was noted for his many charities, giv- ing food and other necessities to the widows and orphans of the Civil War. He was a man of splendid intellectual attainments and was admitted to the practice of law in the courts of Franklin county. He was a Republican and was a stanch supporter of Abraham Lincoln. He died in Indianapolis, Indi- ana in 1891, a much beloved, noble and generous citizen, survived by his wife who died in 1908.

The paternal grandparents of John O'Hair were Patrick and Margaret (Dempsey ) O'Hair. Patrick O'Hair was born in County Down, Ireland and when but twelve years of age came to this country. His wife's parents opposed their daughter's marriage to him because of religious objections, Mr. O'Hair being a Catholic and his wife a Presbyterian. The young people eloped and were married in spite of parental opposition, this act causing an irreconcilable estrangement between Mrs. O'Hair and her people. Mrs. O'Hair had two brothers, James and John, who were soldiers in the War of 1812, serving in the battle of Ft. McHenry. Patrick O'Hair engaged in the glass making industry and became very prosperous. Unfortunately he be- came security for some friends, whose venture failing, entailed upon Mr. O'Hair a severe financial loss which caused him to sacrifice his business. After this, Mr. O'Hair and his family moved to Wheeling, West Virginia,

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where he engaged in the locksmith business. About this time he secured a contract from the government to build a section of the National road between Cumberland and Wheeling, West Virginia. One of Patrick O'Hair's fond- est memories during life was the recollection of his meeting with General Lafayette at the time of the latter's second visit to this country, fifty years after the close of the American Revolution, in which struggle for independ- ence the gallant Frenchman had been such a conspicuous figure. Patrick O'Hair died in Wheeling, West Virginia and his wife died in 1833 during the cholera plague.

John O'Hair, grandson of Patrick O'Hair, attended the public school in Laurel, Indiana. At a very early age he began to learn the trade of molder in his father's foundry. For several seasons he taught school in Laurel township during the winters, working in his father's foundry during the summer months. His father, James O'Hair, had an excellent law library and John and his brother Edward availed themselves of the opportunity thus afforded, reading law under their father's direction for several years. John O'Hair then engaged in the active practice of law, which profession he fol- lowed for some time. In 1886 he resurrected the Laurel Review, a paper formerly published in Laurel, which he continued to publish and was its editor until his death in 1914. In 1878 he was married to Josephine Lingo of Laurel, Indiana, a daughter of Cyrus and Anna Eliza (Price) Lingo, both natives of Belmont county, Ohio.

Cyrus B. Lingo, father-in-law of John O'Hair, was one of Ohio's noted men. He was distinguished as a teacher, physician and architect and in the latter capacity built a bridge for a railroad company that in its day was con- sidered a marvel of bridge architecture. He was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, dying in a military hospital in New Albany, Indiana, in 1862. He was survived by a widow and eight children, ranging in ages from two to sixteen years. Two of these children after some years came to Metamora, Indiana, to live with their aunt, Mrs. Samuel Cooper. They later moved to Laurel, Indiana. These children were Josephine and Cassius, Josephine afterwards marrying John O'Hair, Cassius dying four years after moving to Laurel.

To John O'Hair and wife were born five daughters, Leona, who mar- ried George Mullin an attorney, living at Brookville, Indiana; Edna, a teacher of German in the high school of Anderson, Indiana; Claire, a teacher of German in a high school in Chicago, Illinois; Alice Merle, a teacher in the Laurel, public schools, and one who died in infancy.

John O'Hair was a man of many accomplishments and activities. He

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had the faculty of making many friends. In politics he was a decided Re- publican, his counsels possessing much weight among the managers of that party in this county. He served as justice of the peace in Laurel township for many years, also as a member of the Laurel town council. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias, in the local lodge of which he was one of the leaders. He was a member of the Christian church and for many years was superintendent of the Sunday school of this church. During the last four years of Mr. O'Hair's life he was an invalid which prevented any social or business activity on his part. Upon his death his widow assumed the management of the Laurel Review, which she has continued successfully to edit. The history of Franklin county would be most incomplete without this mention of the O'Hair family, various members of which have done so much for the advancement and welfare of the community, and without special mention of the life and services of John O'Hair, a citizen of distinguished merit, whose memory is cherished not only by his family, but by all came under the influence of his gentle personality.

RUDOLPH WEBER.

For the past thirty years Rudolph Weber has been a successful farmer of Franklin county. Born in Alsace-Lorraine, he came to this country with his parents when he was a year old and lived in Cincinnati until he perman- ently located in this county. When a young man he worked in the machine shops of Cincinnati for a few years and then later bought a meat stall in the Cincinnati city markets. Since coming to this county he has been very suc- cessful in general farming and stock raising and now owns a large farm near Laurel, where he is living surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of modern life and held in the highest regard by all the neighbors.

Rudolph Weber, the son of Rudolph and Barbara (Weber) Weber, was born July 26, 1856, in Strasburg, Germany, then a part of France. His father was born in the same city November 1, 1820, and died at his home in Franklin county, Indiana, December 30, 1899. His mother, who was no relation to her husband, although of the same name, was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1838, and died in Cincinnati in 1866, during an epidemic of cholera in that city.

Rudolph Weber, Sr. was the youngest of a family of thirteen children. He grew to manhood in Switzerland and learned the trade of a machinist

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in that country. After his marriage in Switzerland he located in Strasburg, where he remained for ten years. In 1857 he came to America with his family and located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked at his trade until he retired from active life. He was considered the finest lathe hand in Cincinnati. Upon his retirement from active work in July, 1884, he moved to Franklin county, Indiana, where he purchased a farm adjoining the town of Laurel and there he spent the remainder of his life in comfort. While living in Cincinnati his wife died and he later married Charlotte Gravius, whose death occurred in Cincinnati in 1896. Rudolph Weber, Sr. and his first wife were the parents of three children, John, who died in 1913, an in- fluential citizen of Cincinnati, who had served as assistant recorder of Ham- ilton county, Ohio; Rudolph, the immediate subject of this narrative, and Edward Albert, who is a city mail carrier in St. Louis, Missouri.

Rudolph Weber was only one year old when his parents came to the United States and located in Cincinnati. He received a good elementary education in the public schools of that city and while still a youth began to work with his father in the different machine shops of Cincinnati. After learning his trade he worked for four years and then managed a meat stall in the city markets for five years. He became influential in Republican politics in Cincinnati, and was assessor of his ward for ten consecutive years. His father came to Franklin county, Indiana, in 1884, and the following year Mr. Weber moved to this county to manage his father's farm in Laurel township. He rented his father's farm for a few years and bought land at different times until he owned two hundred and thirty acres adjoining his father's estate. After his father's death he bought the old home farm also, and now has one of the best farms in the county, most all of it being rich bottom land. He is an extensive hog raiser and has become one of the substantial men of his community.

Mr. Weber was married Christmas Day, 1884, to Catherine Reiboldt, who was born October 23, 1859, in Brookville township, Franklin county, Indiana, a daughter of J. Peter and Catherine Reiboldt, a sketch of whose history is found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Weber are the parents of two sons, Rudolph, Jr., born November 24, 1885, who was grad- uated from Purdue University with the class of 1907, and now is a civil engineer at Orland, California, and John Peter, born October 26, 1900, who is still living with his parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Weber are loyal and earnest members of the Lutheran church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Weber retired from active

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work in March, 1913, and moved to Laurel, where he is now making his home. He is a man of genial personality and during the thirty years that he has been living in the county, he has won a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, all of whom entertain for him the highest esteem.

WILLIAM E. ENSMINGER.

The whole life of William E. Ensminger, a prosperous merchant, of Laurel, has been spent in that town. His father died when he was a small boy and when ten years of age he started to clerk in one of the stores of Laurel. Before reaching his majority his mother bought a small store and since that time he has been engaged in the mercantile business in the town of his birth. He now has the largest department store in Laurel and has built up a trade which extends throughout that whole section of the county.

William E. Ensminger, the son of Ludwig and Margaret (Reiboldt) Ensminger, was born in Laurel, Indiana, May 30, 1876. His father was born in this same town in 1837 and died here May 20, 1886. His mother was born in Brookville township in this county, March 23, 1854, and died in Laurel, August 2, 1909. His parents reared a family of five children : Charles, who died in infancy; William E., of Laurel; Jacob, who died in young manhood; Eva, who is a partner with her brother in the store; and Pauline, the wife of Evan L. Shera, a farmer of Laurel township.

Ludwig Ensminger, the father of William E., was reared at Laurel and received his education in the schools of the town. After his marriage he rented a farm and continued to farm until his death. The paternal grandparents of William Ensminger were John Ensminger and wife. His grandfather was born in eastern Pennsylvania of Dutch ancestry and when a young man came with three other brothers to Franklin county and settled in Laurel where he spent the remainder of his days. His grandfather Ens- minger was a stone mason and an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church. The maternal grandparents of William Ensminger were John and Catherine (Mettel) Reiboldt, a sketch of whose history is found elsewhere in this volume.

William E. Ensminger lost his father when he was ten years of age and shortly afterwards he started to clerk in the general store of E. C. Caffee in Laurel, working in the store for four years. His mother then bought a small store and young William became general manager. He worked in the store until 1902 and then started in the clothing business for

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himself. Prior to that time his mother had taken in as a partner her broth- er, Edward Reiboldt, the firin being known as Reiboldt & Ensminger. Fin- ally Mr. Reiboldt sold out his interest to E. L. Shera and the firm of Shera & Ensminger continued in business for three years. In 1910, after his mother's death, Mr. Ensminger bought his partner's interest and has since added a full line of clothing and men's-furnishing goods. He now has a well-stocked department store and has built up a large business in Laurel and the surrounding community.

Mr. Ensminger was married in 1903 to Lena Trickey, who was born at Butlerville, the daughter of Mark Trickey and wife. Her parents live in Laurel, where her father is a skilled mechanic. Mr. and Mrs. Ensminger have one son, Gilbert Eugene, born May 23, 1904.

Mr. Ensminger is a Democrat in politics and has served on the town council and school board of Laurel. He is now a member of the Laurel township advisory board. He and his wife are members of the Meth- dist Episcopal church. Fraternally, Mr. Ensminger is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter at Laurel and the commandery at Connersville, and is actively interested in both church and lodge affairs, as well as in all movements having to do with the development of the best interests of the community, in the social and commercial life of which for many years he has been one of the most active and influential factors.

JETHRO M. HAMILTON.

That dread of rural life which so many misinformed people entertain, and which was not altogether without cause forty years ago, need no longer remain a deterrent factor in the laudable "back to the soil" movement. Farm life is fast approaching the ideal, as the boasted advantages of city life are brought, one by one, to the farmer's very doors. Telephones, automobiles and daily newspapers are no longer innovations, and electric power and lights are made practicable by the use of cheap gasoline or hydraulic power, or by the network of trolley lines which covers the country.

A country gentleman whose lines have been cast in pleasant places is Jethro M. Hamilton, of Springfield township. He was born May 3, 1865, in the township in which he now lives and in the same house which is his present place of abode. His parents were Harvey and Margaret (Hamilton) Hamilton, the father being born in New York state, May 6, 1806, dying Janu-

MR. AND MRS. JETHRO M. HAMILTON.

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ary 13, 1886. Mr. Hamilton is one of a family of seven children, namely : Harvey, William, Martha, Laura, Jethro, Joseph and Etta. Harvey married Caroline Sleet and lives in Mt. Carmel. William, having married Alice Stru- ble, made his home at Oxford, Ohio. Martha, who married S. E. Fey, also lives in Oxford, Ohio. Laura married J. A. Block and lives in Mt. Carmel. Etta married T. O. Appleman and also lives in Mt. Carmel.

Fifty years ago Harvey Hamilton, father of the man whose name forms the caption of this biographical sketch, came to Indiana and began farming. Formerly he conducted a wholesale grocery business in Cincinnati. At one time he also owned a distillery, in what was then known as Dry Fork, in Franklin county. He was a charter member of the First Presbyterian church in Cincinnati, and an anti-slavery man. His first wife, Martha Ludlow, who was the daughter of William Ludlow, died childless, on August 29, 1852. His second wife was Margaret Hamilton, who was born in Ireland, the daughter of Thomas J. Hamilton. She died January 24, 1914, having long outlived her husband, whose death occurred in the year 1864.

Jethro M. Hamilton and his wife are childless. Their home, situated one-half mile east of Mt. Carmel, is ideal in its location and appointments, being equipped with electric lights and thoroughly modern in every way. There are one hundred and sixty acres in this place, while Mr. Hamilton also owns two hundred and sixty-five acres in Butler county, Ohio.

The first wife of Mr. Hamilton was Bettie Fruit, the daughter of David Fruit. She was married September 25, 1885, and was the mother of two children, Mary and David, both of whom died in infancy. The second wife was Angeline Parkhurst, the daughter of Dr. E. and Isabelle (Livingston) Parkhurst, of Cincinnati. Dr. Parkhurst held high rank in the order of Free and Accepted Masons, and was a pillar of the Methodist Episcopal church. Angeline was the sister of William Parkhurst, who married Miss Louisa Burns and lives in Okeana, Ohio.

Mrs. Hamilton was graduated from a Cincinnati high school and then taught school in Butler county, Ohio, for eight years. She is one of Franklin county's influential women, being chairman of the Sixth District Federation of Women's Clubs and the county chairman of the Franklin County Federa- tion of the same organization, having helped organize this district. She was secretary of the Farmers' Institute of Springfield township for eight years, and was the author of several addresses, the latest of which are now being prepared for publication.

At the time this was written this noble woman lay in the Valley of the

(47)

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Shadow of Death. Her loss to the community would be incalculable, and the chronicler humbly joins her host of friends in all parts of the state in the hope that she may be spared for many years of active service in behalf of humanity. It is pitiful indeed to think that so fine and influential a woman would be so sorely tried as she has been for the past few years, during which time she has undergone twenty-nine operations, courageously carrying on her work, however, in the meantime.

It is the example of such persons as Mr. Hamilton and his wife that holds us to the path of duty in our hours of trial. Mr. Hamilton is a whole- hearted, genial man who compels the respect of his acquaintances, and in this dark hour of his domestic trial we can but say "God be with you."

DR. JOHN ELLIOTT MORTON.

One of the most highly esteemed and valued citizens of Brookville, Indiana, is Dr. John Elliott Morton, who has been a resident of this city since 1876. When only seventeen years of age Mr. Morton began to teach in the public schools, and from that time until 1881, was engaged in public- school work. He organized the first high school in Brookville, and was in charge of the schools there for five years. In 1881 he left the school room to take up the pratice of dentistry, and for the past thirty years has been following this profession in Brookville.

Dr. John E. Morton, the son of Simpkins and Eliza E. (Elliott) Mor- ton, was born at Dresden, Ohio, June 25, 1846. His father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1818, and died in 1902, while his mother was born near Eaton, Ohio, in 1823, and died June II, 1912. Simpkins Morton and wife were the parents of eight children, Robert Gil- lette, who died at the age of three; Alexander Struthers, a carpenter now living in Newark, Ohio; Burris Moore, a farmer of Missouri; William Peck, a farmer living near Fairfield, Iowa; Samuel Upton, a farmer living near Dresden, Ohio; Thomas, who is living on the old homestead in Mus- kingum county, Ohio; Sarah Elizabeth, the wife of Frank Baughman, a farmer living near Newark, Ohio, and Dr. John Elliott, of Brookville.

Simpkins Morton, the father of Doctor Morton, was reared in Penn- sylvania, making his home with his grandfather Simpkins until he was about eighteen years of age. His father had lost his life in early manhood as a result of being thrown from a horse. When eighteen years of age Simpkins Morton went to Zanesville, Ohio, and learned the hatter's trade

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with his half-brother, James Donahue. Later he went to Dresden, Ohio, and engaged in business for himself. About 1862 he ceased work at his trade and bought a farm near Dresden, where he spent the remainder of his life. He served as town marshal of Dresden and during the Civil War was provost marshal.

Doctor Morton was reared at Dresden, Ohio, and attended the public schools of that place. Later he was a student at the McIntyre Academy at Zanesville and the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. When he was seventeen years of age he began teaching school in Muskingum county, Ohio, and also taught in Coshocton county, Ohio. In the fall of 1869 he became a teacher at Shelbyville, Indiana, remaining in the schools there two years. His next teaching experience was at Hartford City, In- diana, where he was superintendent of schools for a number of years. He next became the superintendent of the Frankfort, Indiana, schools, and remained in that city until 1876, when he came to Brookville, Indiana. Upon locating in Brookville, Doctor Morton organized the first graded schools and established a full course in the high school. Two years later he secured a commission for the high school, so he rightly has the honor of being the father of the local high school. He continued as superintendent of the local schools until 1881, when he decided to leave the teaching pro- fession and engage in dentistry. He took a full course in the Ohio Dental College at Cincinnati, and was graduated with the class of 1885. He at once located for the practice of his profession at Brookville, and has prac- ticed there ever since.

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History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 71

Author: Reifel, August J Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1648

Author: Reifel, August J
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1648