USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 62
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In his present capacity as clerk of the Gibson circuit court, Mr. Maxam doubtless has as wide an acquaintance as any man of his community, due not only to his years of public service, but also to his genial and friendly spirit, his undoubted honesty and integrity. Mr. Maxam was born August 29, 1870, on the same spot on which he now resides, in Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana. He is the son of Sylvester R. and Mary L. (Herman) Maxam. The father was a native of Gibson county, born in 1822 and died in 1895. The mother was born in Pennsylvania in 1827 and died in 1907. They made their home in the same location where the subject of this sketch resides, on what is now known as West State street, for fifty-five or sixty years. This certainly is an enviable experience, which falls to the lot of very few indeed.
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The grandfather of the subject, also Sylvester Maxam, came at an early date in the history of Gibson county, and located east of Princeton, near what is now known as Maxam Station, the name serving as a record of the family's early activities. Grandfather and Grandmother Maxam stood high in the esteem of the community by reason of the deeply religious lives they led, their firm convictions leaving their imprint on all the various activities of life.
Sylvester Maxam ( father of the subject) and wife first made their home at Maxam Station for a short time, before removing to Princeton. To them were born seven children: Mrs. Sylvester A. Rollin, of Princeton; Andrew L., of Bisbee, Arizona; Mrs. James Conzett, of Princeton, who passed away November 24, 1913; Emma Maxam, of Princeton; Olive M. Maxam, of Washington, D. C .; Robert, deceased, and Rollin, subject of this sketch, who was born after his oldest sister was married, and was given her husband's name. The father and mother were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he was engaged in the flouring mill and grain business in Princeton for many years.
Rollin Maxam received his earliest education in the local schools, later attending the Indiana Normal University, at that time in Princeton. He served as deputy postmaster for one year, and in 1895 entered the office of the clerk of the Gibson circuit court as deputy to Samuel A. Stewart, for whom he served eight years and then served another eight years in the same capacity to Mr. Stewart's successor, Thomas J. Mason. From his years of faithful service in the office of county clerk and his intimate knowledge of the duties pertaining thereto, his friends induced him to permit his name to appear on the Republican ticket in 1910 as candidate himself for the office of county 'clerk, and, in spite of the widespread victory of the opposition, Mr. Maxam won his office. One other Republican only was successful. His election was for four years.
On March 3, 1898, Mr. Maxam was united in marriage to Anna Baner, daughter of Anthony and Amelia Baner. Anna Baner was born at New Albany, Indiana, although her parents resided in Evansville, Indiana, at the time of her marriage to Mr. Maxam. To them have been born one child, Robert Anthony, who is now seven years old.
Fraternally, Mr. Maxam has a number of affiliations. He is a member of the Elks Lodge No. 634 of Princeton, of which body he has been secretary for the past seven years. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 64, of Princeton, and member of the tribes of Red
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Men and Ben-Hur. Mr. Maxam, at an early age, manifested an interest in politics, identifying himself with the Republican party and has always been active in its affairs. His years of service in the county office to which he has been elected speak well for the trust and esteem in which he is held in the community. In every phase of life's activities in which he has engaged, Mr. Maxam has been true to every trust and because of the genuine worth of his character he has earned and retains the sincere regard of all who know him.
ABRAM T. MOORE.
The following is a sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who by cor- rect methods and a strict regard for the interests of his fellow men has made his influence felt in his community and won for himself distinctive prestige in the business circles of Princeton and Gibson county. He would be the last man to sit for romance or become the subject of fancy sketches, never- theless his life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable notoriety which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped upon the community.
Abram T. Moore, retired mill operator and grain dealer of Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana, was born March 4, 1828, in Stafford county, New Hampshire, the son of Gideon and Nancy (Tilton) Moore of the same county. The father was a cabinet maker by trade and later in life moved to Belknap county, the same state, where he died in his seventy-fifth year. They were of English extraction and the mother was a member of the Congregational church. To them were born five children: Mary, Adeline and Martha are deceased ; Abram T .; Selesta is living in Rhode Island.
Abram T. Moore received a common school education and lived on the home farm until he reached his seventeenth year, when he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade and served three years. After perfecting him- self in this craft he spent a short time in New York state, subsequently being employed selling goods in Coleville for four years, and then removed to Champaign county, Illinois, in 1856, remaining there until 1875. In Illinois he was one of the pioneer settlers, securing a prairie farm, which he cultivated with success. He later, in 1866, engaged in the grain and milling business at
ABRAM T. MOORE.
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Toulon, Illinois, until 1875, when for eleven years he was in the same busi- ness in Indianapolis. Eventually, he removed to Gibson county and located at Princeton, where he established an extensive elevator and grain business, building elevators at Princeton, King's Station, Hazleton and Patoka. He was also one of the firm of R. P. Moore Milling Company at Princeton, but is now retired from active business.
Mr. Moore was married to Mary Jane Wiggins, of New Hampshire, who died November 30, 1903. To the subject and wife were born the fol- lowing children: (1) Elwyn F. lives at St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he is president of the First National Bank, is a land owner and has many other interests. He married Ida H. Tooksbery and to them have been born four children : Carl is a real estate dealer in Cleveland, Ohio; Olive H. married A. S. White, of New York City; George B. is located in Texas, looking after his father's interests; Elwyn F., Jr .. is at home. (2) Rodger P. married Virginia Richards. He died in 1908 and she in 1912. He was in the milling business at Princeton, Indiana, from 1885 until his death, was a Mason and a prominent citizen. He was the father of one child. Maude, who is the wife of C. C. Coffee, of San Antonio, Texas. (3) George B., who died in 1902, was also in the grain and milling business at Princeton. He married Minnie Knight, who now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. They had one daughter. Marjorie, who married H. H. Benedict, of New Haven, Connecticut. (4) Minnie, who lives in Princeton, is the widow of Samuel H. Kidd, who was a leading attorney of that city. She is the mother of three children: Elwyn H. is deceased; Mary E. is a teacher ; Grace is attending Indiana University.
In early life the subject was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Baptist church at Princeton. Politically, for years he was allied with the Democratic party, but for the last twenty-five years has been a Prohibitionist.
CHARLES A. MILLER, M. D.
Charles A. Miller was born in Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana, on March 8, 1873, the son of G. C. and Lucilla C. ( Archer) Miller. Mr. Miller attended the common and high schools of Princeton, and then took a scien- tific course in the State University at Bloomington, graduating in 1896. He then engaged in teaching school, being employed in the high school at Prince- ton for three years, and then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons
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at Chicago, where he pursued the regular course in medicine, graduating in 1905, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The following two years were spent as an interne in the West Side Hospital, and in 1907 he came to Princeton and entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he has been engaged continuously. He is a general practitioner, having qualifi- cations for both surgery and materia medica, and is numbered among the foremost of his profession in Gibson county. Doctor Miller is a member of the Gibson County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
In 1911 Doctor Miller was united in marriage with Lenora M. Paxton, the daughter of T. R. and Amelia J. (Jerauld) Paxton. Fraternally, Doctor Miller is a member of the Masonic order.
MICHAEL M. KENNEDY.
To attain a worthy citizenship by a life that is always honored and respected even from childhood, deserves more than mere mention. One may take his place in public life through some vigorous stroke of public policy, and even remain in the hearts of friends and neighbors, but to gradually rise to the same position, winning through sterling worth and faithfulness to trusts, rather than by a craving for exaltation and popularity, is worthy of the highest praise and commendation. As such does the biographer of this volume view the career of the subject of this sketch, present county re- corder of Gibson county and for many years one of its best known agri- culturists.
Michael M. Kennedy was born in Columbia township, Gibson county, Indiana, on July 7, 1857, the son of James and Jane (Martin) Kennedy. The mother was a native of Gibson county, born in Barton township, and the father was born in Ireland. When quite a young man, James Kennedy emigrated to the United States, landing at New Orleans, but coming directly to Gibson county, Indiana, where he passed the remaining years of his life. He lived a life of activity, and died at the age of seventy-one. His wife sur- vived him a number of years, passing away in 1897. James and Jane Ken- nedy were the parents of six children, the oldest of whom is the immediate subject of this sketch; David, who lives in Columbia township, Gibson county ; Daniel O., who lived all his life in the same township and died there March 26, 1913; Margaret, wife of John F. Gudgel of Gudgel's Station in Columbia
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township; Robert Emmett, who died January 7, 1911, at Farmersburg, Sulli- van county, Indiana; and Mary E., wife of Doctor R. S. Mason, of Oakland City, Indiana. Immediately upon his arrival in Gibson county, James Ken- nedy began work as a contractor during the construction of the old Straight Line railroad, known now as the Evansville & Indianapolis. When the shadow of the Civil war brooded over the land, quick to show love for his adopted country, he enlisted in Company A. Forty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and saw much active service. During his service he was badly wounded, from which he never recovered and was compelled to go about on crutches the rest of his life. Too much cannot be said in praise of these adopted sons of our country who so nobly responded to her call in time of distress, and may their memory ever be cherished by the later genera- tions who reap the benefits of their sacrifices.
Michael M. Kennedy received his education at Harper's school house in his native township, and was early trained in the work about a farm. This pursuit was both pleasing and profitable to him and he soon possessed a farm of his own. This, however, he has since disposed of, although his children still own the old homestead. While residing in Columbia township, for six years he served as township assessor, and in the fall of 1910 was elected county recorder for a term of four years. In the discharge of the duties of his office, he is thoroughly competent and holds the honor and respect of the entire community.
In 1879 Mr. Kennedy was united in marriage to Sallie Bell, daughter of J. W. Bell, of Warrick county, who lived near Barton township. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy have a charming family of six children, though the majority of them have left the parental roof. Emery and Charles are located at Roosevelt, Louisiana; Donald, in Iowa City, Montana; Maud, wife of George Baltazor of Great Falls, Montana, and Earl and Helen, who remain in Princeton.
Mr. Kennedy has been a life-long advocate of the principles of the Democratic party and his election to the office he now fills was well deserved through the services he has rendered his party. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 64, at Princeton.
Mr. Kennedy is an unassuming man and it is needless to add that he is highly respected by all who know him throughout the county where he has always lived and in all the relations of life he has been found faithful to every trust. Because of his sterling worth, uncompromising integrity and pleasant disposition, he has won and retains the high regard of all with whom he associates.
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PRESSLEY R. BALDRIDGE.
The gentleman to whom the reader's attention is now directed was not favored by inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, but in spite of these, by perseverance, industry and a wise economy, he has attained a comfortable station in life, and is well and favorably known throughout Gibson county as a result of the industrious life he has lived here for many years. being regarded by all who know him as a man of the best type of American citizenship, straightforward, unassuming, genial and obliging, who while advancing his individual interests does not neglect his general duties as a citizen.
Pressley R. Baldridge was born in Randolph county, Illinois, near Sparta, April 17, 1831, the son. of Samuel C. and Hannah ( Reed) Baldridge. the father, who died in 1866. having followed the ministry his entire life, first laboring in the Social Reformed church and later in the United Presbyterian.
Such schooling as could be gained in the pioneer schools was the lot of the subject and after acquiring this meager education he engaged in farm labor for some years and then turned his attention to the trade of cabinet- making, which he followed actively until he reached his seventy-seventh year, being well and widely known as an expert workman. It is a well known fact that the work of this character turned out in our fathers' times by hand was of a much better brand of workmanship than that we have today.
On October 15, 1861, Mr. Baldridge enlisted in the Union army as a musician, he having previously been a member of the Princeton band, but his term of service was less than a year on account of all bands being mustered out at Nashville in 1862. The subject had one brother, James, who died many years ago in Rush county, Indiana.
Mr. Baldridge was married on December 31, 1857, to Jane Lockert, and to this union have been born ten children, namely: Margaret is the wife of Crawford Stormont, a carpenter; Ida M. died in her twenty-eighth year ; Samuel C. lives in Evansville, Indiana; William A. is a traveling man and makes St. Louis his home; Martha M. lives at home; James P. is a dentist at Vincennes, Indiana; Hester, who lives at home; Rebecca A. is the wife of Harry E. Hager, of Jersey City, New Jersey ; Mary A. died young ; Fannie L., deceased.
The subject is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic,
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in which he takes an abiding interest, while religiously he is connected with the United Presbyterian church.
In politics Mr. Baldridge rendered a stanch allegiance to the Republican party up to 1884, when he cast his support with the Prohibition party and takes an active interest in its success, though he is not in any sense a man who has sought for himself the emoluments or honors of public office. He is a man of progressive ideas ; as a man of strict morality, the community could ask no better ; as a man of integrity, no district can boast of a citizen more honest. and as a man of intelligence he ranks high, enjoying the unbounded respect and esteem of those with whom he associates.
HERMAN SIEGERT.
Every nation on the earth has contributed its quota to the population of the United States, but no nation has furnished better citizens for our country than has Germany. Hundreds of thousands of the best blood of Germany have come to this country and become the most substantial citizens of the various localities in which they settled. Fortunate indeed is the locality which has its German descendants numbered among its citizens, for wher- ever they are found, they are always among the most substantial citizens of the community. The habits of thrift and frugality which they inherited from their ancestors always make them valuable assets to the community at large. No one ever heard of a German dying in the poorhouse. It is unquestioned that the example set by thrifty German citizens has been very beneficial not to our native American, but to the citizens of all other coun- tries as well. Indiana was fortunate in the days before the war, and in- mediately after the war, in attracting many thousands of good Germans to her borders. Among the many German families coming to this state at the close of the war was the Siegert family.
Herman Siegert. the son of August and Annie ( Schaucke) Siegert. was born in Saxony, Germany, in 1847. He came with his parents to . \mer- ica in 1857. They landed at New Orleans and from thence they came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Mt. Vernon. Later they settled near Grayville, Illinois, where August Siegert bought forty acres of land. He cleared this land and improved it and spent his remaining days on this place, his death occurring there at an advanced age.
Herman Siegert grew up on his father's farm in Illinois, and worked
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out a part of the time before he reached his majority. At that time his father gave him a team and he rented his father's farm and was very suc- cessful in his efforts. Within a short time he was able to buy forty acres near the home farm. Some years later he sold this tract and bought another farm in Wabash county, Illinois, across the Wabash river from Gibson county. In 1872 he was very fortunate in buying one hundred acres of land in Wabash township Gibson county, Indiana, for the very small sum of three hundred dollars. This land was covered with a fine growth of timber, which in itself was worth more than the price he paid for the land. Mr. Siegert probably had the honor of reaping the first wheat which was ever grown in the Wabash bottoms in this township. He cleared the land and gradually improved it by ditching and draining until it was known as one of the best farms of the township. With true German thrift he saved his money and invested in more land. As a farmer he has had but few equals in the history of the township, a fact which is shown by his extensive land holdings at the present time. He now owns two thousand four hundred acres in Wabash township alone, as well as other farms in Posey and Warrick counties.
In 1882 Mr. Siegert was married to Sarah Pedigo, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Pedigo. She was born at Owensville, this county. After their marriage they made their home about three miles south of Crowleyville in Wabash township, where his wife died four years later, leaving one daughter, Amanda, who married Paul Maier, and she and her husband live with her father. After the death of his wife Mr. Siegert closed his home and boarded in the vicinity of his various farms until the marriage of his daughter in 1908, since which time he has made his home with her and her husband.
Mr. Siegert is a loyal and earnest member of the German Lutheran church and has always contributed very liberally to its support. Mr. Siegert is a man of very few words, plain, gentle and unassuming, who attends strictly to his own business. He has never interested himself actively in politics and has never sought political office at the hands of any party. He is an excellent type of the worthy German citizen and shows what can be accomplished by fixed purpose and consecutive endeavor. He is a conspicu- ous example of the pioneer who began life in a new country and, under un- favorable circumstances, by his own integrity and industry has made a career of marked success in agricultural affairs. He has lived a useful and honor- able life, a life characterized by perseverance and earnest effort, and the
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honorable life he has led might well set an example to the younger genera- tion. His lifelong record for right living and industrial habits, for educa- tion and morality and for all which contributes to the welfare of the com- munity, may well be emulated by the coming generation.
MILTON CUSHMAN.
Holding eminent prestige among the successful men of his community, the subject of this review has had much to do in advancing the material in- terests of Gibson county. The study of such a life can not fail of interest and incentive, for he has been not only distinctively representative in his sphere of endeavor, but has established a reputation for integrity and honor. Numbered among the substantial and worthy citizens of his community, none more than he deserves representation in a work of the character of the one in hand.
Milton Cushman, the present efficient county treasurer of Gibson county, was born July 13, 1865, in Princeton. He received his education in the public schools of that city. Reared on a farm, he has followed the pursuit of agri- culture all his life, and the present estate of the subject, located five miles southwest of Princeton, in Patoka township, is considered one of the model agricultural plants in the county, it being the garden spot of the section.
Having spent one term as an assistant in the office of the county treas- urer, Mr. Cushman was eminently fitted to fill that office, to which he was elected in 1912 on the Democratic ticket, and his administration of the af- fairs of that responsible position has given the utmost satisfaction to the tax- payers of Gibson county.
Modest and unassuming in his manner and of a genial and approachable personality. Mr. Cushman has probably as large a circle of friends as any man in the county, his strict attention to his own affairs and his straightfor- ward and clean life having made him a man whom it is a delight to know and honor.
In fraternal matters, Mr. Cushman takes a deep interest in the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is an earnest member, striving in his daily walk to exemplify the beautiful and worthy precepts taught by that order. His support in religious matters is given to the Methodist Epis- copal church. He has never married.
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HUGH HANNA, SR.
Dependent very largely upon his own resources from his early youth, Hugh Hanna, Sr., of Patoka township, has attained no insignificant success, and though he may have, like most men of affairs, encountered obstacles and met with reverses, he has pressed steadily forward, ever willing to work for the end he has in view. His tenacity and fortitude are due, no doubt, in a large measure to the worthy traits inherited from his sterling ancestors, whose high ideals and correct principles he has ever sought to perpetuate in all the relations of life.
Hugh Hanna, Sr., who, after many years of successful efforts as agri- culturist, is now living retired in his comfortable home at Princeton, Indiana, was born in December, 1843, in county Wigtown, Scotland. He was the son of Hugh and Margaret (Osborn) Hanna, who were both born, reared and married in the same locality, where the father followed farming all his life, and there died. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. The latter came to America some time after his death, and here lived with her son, the subject of this sketch, until her death. She was the mother of two children, Margaret, who married a Mr. Wilson and lives in Rutland, Ver- mont, and Hugh, the immediate subject of this sketch. As a boy, Hugh Hanna had very little schooling in Scotland, and spent the major portion of his time on his father's farm, until he came to America with John Kerr and family, locating in Princeton, Gibson county, Indiana. Here he started to learn the blacksmith's trade with Jonas Tichenor, with whom he remained for about three years, until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he entered the army and performed valiant service in the defense of his adopted country. After his return from the army in the fall of 1865, Mr. Hanna was married and continued to be employed at his trade until 1868, when he was employed in a hardware store for about two years. He then bought a hundred and sixty acres of land in Patoka township, to which he has applied himself con- tinuously since, his efforts being rewarded with splendid success. He is a good all-round farmer, giving his attention to every detail of his work, and the splendid residence and other buildings on the place, well-kept fences and other details show him to be a man of good judgment and sound discrim- ination.
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