USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 85
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SAMUEL O. MARVEL.
To a great extent the prosperity of the agricultural sections of our coun- try is due to the honest industry, the sturdy persistence, the unswerving per- severance and the wise economy which so prominently characterize the farm- ing element of the Hoosier state. Among this class may be mentioned Samuel O. Marvel, the subject of this life record, who by reason of years of inde- fatigable labor and honest effort, has not only acquired a well-merited ma- terial prosperity, but has also richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he is associated. On his farm of one hundred and eighty-two acres of well located land in Montgomery township, this county, he carries on gen- eral farming and stock raising in a manner that attests his business ability.
Samuel O. Marvel was born in 1849 in the southern portion of Mont- gomery township, in the vicinity of his present home. He is the son of . James, born in 1803, but the place of whose birth is doubtful. His father,
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Prettyman Marvel, removed from their original home in Delaware to Geor- gia, and it is uncertain whether James was born before or after their move, but it is probable Georgia was his birthplace. However, he was but a small child when his father, Prettyman Marvel, and family came to Gibson county, settling first where Fort Branch now is (that was in 1808), and in 1811 entered the land where the immediate subject of this sketch now lives, and lived there to a good old age. The last year or two of Prettyman Marvel's life was spent in Illinois, whither he had journeyed to see a son. Travel was very wearisome in those days, and as he became quite feeble while there, he was unable to make the return journey and died there in 1854.
James Marvel, who was five years old when his parents brought him to Gibson county, grew to manhood on his father's farm. He took as his wife Comfort Knowles, a native of Kentucky and the daughter of David Knowles. He came to Gibson county about 1810, and purchasing land a short distance south of where Samuel O. Marvel now resides, passed the remainder of his life there. After his marriage, James Marvel lived on his father's place, buying ground from time to time until he had accumulated some four hun- dred acres. They were the parents of eleven children, only three of whom are living : David, James L. and Samuel O., the immediate subject of this sketch. William K. died March 9, 1914. James Marvel and wife were con- sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and gave much of their time and substance to forward the cause of that denomination. He died in 1885, and her death occurred two years earlier.
Samuel O. Marvel grew to manhood on the old homestead of his father and grandfather and when a young man went to Franklin county, Illinois, where he purchased a farm and lived for about ten years. While there, in 1872, he was united in marriage with Parthena Bailey, a native of Franklin county, Illinois, daughter of James and Catherine (Launius) Bailey. In 1884 Samuel O. Marvel moved his family back to the old homestead in Montgomery township, and here he has since made his home and carried on his business. Eight children were born to the union of Samuel O. and Par- thena Bailey Marvel, namely : James R., who lives near his father and whose wife was Elsie Knowles; Lewis, who remains at home with his father ; David Byron, who is engaged in the hardware business at Owensville, where he re- sides. His wife was Ora E. Knowles and they have one daughter. Thyra C. Iola, who became the wife of Ora Rogers, lives in Arkansas and is the mother of two children, Mona and Wilbur. Minnie, who is Mrs. John Mont-
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gomery, of Owensville, has one danghter, Rita. Ethel is the wife of Magnus Montgomery, who is in the hardware business in Owensville. A little dangh- ter, Mattie, died when not quite thirteen years old and they also lost an infant son, Ralph. Parthena Bailey Marvel died in 1902, and in 1904 Mr. Marvel again married, his bride being Mary Launius, a cousin of his first wife. She was born in Franklin county, Illinois, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Launius.
Mr. Marvel's religious sympathies are with the Cumberland Presbyterian church, of which he is a consistent member, and Mrs. Marvel holds her church membership with the Missionary Baptist church. There is very much that is commendable in the life record of this man, for he has been found true to duty in every relation, whether of a publie or private character, and while energy and industry have been salient features of his business career, he is equally well known for his uprightness and the honorable methods he has always followed, and for his loyalty to any trust reposed in him. Because of his genial and unassuming disposition and his genuine worth, he enjoys a well-deserved popularity throughout this county.
EWIN DALLAS HULFISH.
Among the oldest newspaper men of the state is Ewin Dallas Hulfish, who published the first newspaper ever printed in Owensville, Gibson county, Indiana. He has been actively engaged in the printing business for the last forty-five years, and is said to be the oldest active printer in the state of In- diana. He was born August 25, 1849, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a son of David and Rebecca (Carpenter ) Hulfish. His father was a native of New Jersey and his mother was born in Philadelphia. Ewin D. Hulfish was only six years of age when his parents moved to Princeton, In- diana, and a year later settled in Owensville, in this county, where they re- mained for the rest of their lives. David Hulfish was a shoemaker by trade, and followed that occupation successfully throughout his life.
Ewin D. is the only child living of the seven born to his parents. He received a very limited common school education and before he was of age he learned the shoemaker's trade and also followed carriage painting for a time. By the time he was twenty-one years of age he had learned the rudi- ments of the printer's trade and in that same year started the publication of the Owensville Montgomery Newes, which soon suspended. He is now sole
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owner and publisher of the Star-Echo. The paper is recognized as an in- fluence for good in the community, as its editor uniformly takes a stand on the right side of all questions affecting the public welfare.
Mr. Hulfish was twice married, his first wife being Dora Sherrill, of McMinnville, Tennessee, to whom he was married on September 2, 1869, She was a daughter of Uriah and Charlotte (Martin) Sherrill, and to this union there was born one son, David S., who is now a resident of England, where he is employed by the British government in installing an automatic telephone exchange. Some years after the death of his first wife, Mr. Hul- fish married Maggie E. Spore on May 5, 1886, the daughter of Elbert W. and Nancy (Cochran) Spore, and there were three children born to this second marriage: Stephen, who is now foreman of the Star-Echo, and Emma Lee and Roderick, who are still at home.
Politically, Mr. Hulfish has affiliated with the Democratic party since he became of age, and has always advocated the principles of that party. He is greatly interested in music, and organized and was leader of the first Owensville brass band. He had the honor of drawing the first check paid by an Owensville bank and also purchased the first postoffice money order which was issued by the Owensville postoffice.
JOHN C. GORMAN.
It is generally acknowledged fact that journalism is one of the most im- portant factors in twentieth-century life, exerting as it does an influence on practically every department of society. This relation is just as actual and potent in the smaller cities and towns as in the large cities, and he who directs the policy of a newspaper or wields the pen which gives expression to that policy, exerts a personal control over local thought and action that is not equaled by any other profession. Among the newspaper men of Gibson county who have, by their progressive attitude toward local affairs, contributed in a very definite measure to the advancement of the community, is the gen- tleman whose name appears above and who is successfully publishing the Princeton Democrat.
John C. Gorman, the son of George W. and Mary A. (McQuaid) Gor- man, was born in Owensville, Indiana, December 12, 1866. His father was a native of Connecticut and was sent west as an orphan child to Terre Haute, where he was apprenticed to a printer. After serving his appresticeship in the
I.b. Gorman
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Terre Haute office he went to the Evansville Journal, where he remained for a number of years. Upon the outbreak of the Mexican war, in 1846, he en- listed as a private and served the full two years in the war with Mexico, being mustered out as a sergeant. Upon his return he went to Owensville, where he spent the rest of his life in business. When the Civil war broke out he was still filled with the patriotic zeal which fired men of younger years and or- ganized Company H, Seventeenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in Gibson county. He entered the service as a major and later was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment. Later he resigned his commission and returned to Indiana, where he was commisisoned by Governor Morton to organize the One Hundred Twentieth Mounted Infantry at Vincennes. This he accomplished to the entire satisfaction of the governor and turned over the regiment to him for mustering in, although he did not himself go with the regiment. Ile served two and one-half years in the Seventeenth Regiment and saw service in some of the hardest fought battles of the war. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Gorman reared a family of six children: James U., de- ceased : George C .; Agnes, deceased : Florence, Emma and John C. George WV. Gorman died in August, 1887, his widow surviving him twenty years, her death occurring in February, 1907.
John C. Gorman was educated in the common and the high schools of Owensville, Indiana. When a small boy he started to learn the printer's trade and by the time he was through high school he had learned the mechanical end of the business. By the time he was seventeen years of age he was a full- fledged printer and able to make his living by the trade. At the age of thirteen he began to work in the office of the Owensville Echo and at eighteen he went to Princeton, where he entered the office of one of the papers, serving in dif- ferent capacities. His first work was on the Gibson County Leader; from there he went to the Princeton Democrat; then to the Princeton Clarion, after which he went to Poseyville, Indiana, where he took charge of the Poseyville News for two years. All the time he was gaining valuable experience and perfecting himself in the management of a newspaper, and at the expiration of his two years' service in Poseyville, he returned to Owensville and pur- chased a job office, which he continued to operate until October, 1888, at which time he started the Owensville Gleaner, a weekly paper. He published this until March, 1895, when he sold it out and went to Princeton, where he pur- chased the Princeton Democrat, buying the controlling interest. He has been the controlling factor in this paper for the past nineteen years and has greatly enlarged and improved the paper in that time and is now the owner. When he
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took charge of it, it only had four pages and only two of those were printed in Princeton. It is now an eight-page daily and also he issues a semi-weekly. In 1896 he moved his office and equipment to a better location and the weekly was changed to a semi-weekly, and the morning daily was made an afternoon paper. As a newspaper man he ranks among the leaders in his section of the state, and the Democratic party finds in him one of the spokesmen for the principles and policies of the party. Recently, Mr. Gorman has been recom- mended by the congressman from this district for the position of postmaster of Princeton.
Mr. Gorman was married in September, 1891, to Mary L. McGinnis, the daughter of James P. and Melissa (Mauck) McGinnis, both of whom were natives of Gibson county. To Mr. and Mrs. Gorman have been born three children, Helen E., Georgia and John, Jr. Mrs. Gorman died December 15. 1896. She was a lady of sterling worth, whose many kindly deeds and loving ministrations will be remembered in the neighborhood in which she lived and which was made better by her presence and influence.
Mr. Gorman is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, and as an editor in this community he has wielded a wide influence in the councils of his party. Fraternally, he is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias at Owensville, and was one of the charter members of the lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Princeton and is a member of the Sons of Veterans. Personally, he is affable and popular with the people in his city and ready at all times to lend his aid to all laudable measures which have for their object the general good of the community. By a life consistent in motive and because of his many good qualities he has earned the sincere regard of all who know him, and his success in the newspaper field has been one well merited.
JOHN T. ALLBRIGHT.
The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his neighbors and fellow citizens. In touching upon the life history of the subject of this sketch the writer aims to avoid fulsome encomium and extrav- agant praise ; yet he desires to hold up for consideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, useful and honorable life-a life char-
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acterized by perseverance, energy, broad charity and well-defined purpose. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum pronounced upon the man by the people who have known him long and well.
John T. Allbright was born in October. 1838, in Martin county, Indiana, the son of John W. and Eliza (Jones) Allbright, who were both natives of Martin county. The Allbright family are of German stock and settled in Pennsylvania many years ago, and members of the family have been prom- inent in the various localities in which they have lived. The subject's mater- nal ancestors were from Virginia. John W. Allbright received but a limited school education, and practically liis entire life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He died at the comparatively early age of thirty-five years, his death having been caused by an injury received at a log rolling. He was sur- vived many years by his widow, who died at Oakland City, Indiana. They were the parents of six children, five sons and a daughter, namely : John T., the immediate subject of this sketch; David, who lives at New Harmony, Indiana ; Mary, of Pittsburg, Kansas: James, deceased; Thomas, who lives in Minnesota, and Joel, of Edwardsville, Illinois.
John T. Allbright attended the schools of his home neighborhood and remained with his mother until his marriage, in 1860, when he and his wife removed to Shoals, Indiana, where they resided until 1882. While living at Shoals, Indiana, on August 14, 1862, Mr. Allbright enlisted as a private in Company A, Seventeenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and accom- panied his command to Indianapolis, where they were fitted out and were then sent south to Green river and on to Mumfordsville, Kentucky. On Novem- ber 27, 1862, the subject was taken sick at Gallatin, Tennessee, and was in the hospital from December 27, 1862, until February 1, 1863. He then went back to Murfreesboro, and on June 24, 1863, was in the battle of Hoover's Gap on Duck river; then the command went to Chattanooga. where they went into camp for a while. Later they went to Ringgold, Georgia, and thence to Rock Springs, where they were detailed to guard bridges. Returning to Chattanooga and Murfreesboro, the command later went to Shelbyville, and took part in the battle at that place and then went on to near Rogersville. Alabama, from which place they returned to Pulaski. The subject then came home on furlough in January, 1864, and took the smallpox, being confined to quarters from January until April. Rejoining his regiment at Pulaski, Tennessee, he re-enlisted as a veteran and was sent to Nashville, Tennessee. where his command was assigned to General Wilson's division. The regi- ment went to Macon, Georgia, where they remained until the close of the war,
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receiving their discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, on June 27, 1865, and at once came to Indianapolis, where they were paid off and mustered out. Mr. Allbright had many close calls from injury during his service, taking part in all of the battles in Rogers' campaign, in which his regiment participated, as far as he was able. He is now an honored member of the Grand Army post at Oakland City, Indiana. In 1887 Mr. and Mrs. Allbright moved to Oak- land City, Indiana, where he followed the shoemaking and harness-making trades, which he had learned in 1857, and which he has followed during prac- tically all of his active life. He is well known in Gibson county, where he has won a host of warm personal friends and where he has built up a large and profitable business by strict attention to his affairs and courteous treatment of his customers.
In 1860 Mr. Allbright was married to Amanda Teney, of Aurora, In- diana, and to them have been born the following children: Alice, the wife of William Cook, of Linton, Indiana ; George, of Los Angeles, California, while four children died in early life. Religiously, Mr. Allbright is an earnest member of the Christian church, to which he gives a liberal support of his means and substance. Mr. Allbright is a man of splendid influence in his community, having been an industrious man and made an honorable career. setting a worthy example to the younger generation of his community. He is a public-spirited man and can always be counted on to support the right side of any movement involving the moral, educational or social welfare of his fellow citizens.
WILLIAM L. LEISTER.
The subject of this sketch, William L. Leister, a well-known physician of Oakland City, Indiana, is descended from a line of sterling pioneer an- cestry. His paternal grandparents, Dr. David and Elizabeth (Richey) Leis- ter, were residents of McCracken county, Kentucky. There, in the year 1818, was born to them a son, William R., who in early youth suffered the loss of his parents by death. Thereafter he made his home with his maternal uncle, Simeon Richey, in Scott township, Vanderburg county, Indiana.
In the year 1840 William R. Leister married Mary, second daughter of William and Elizabeth (Marcus) Rogers, of Vanderburg county. To this union four children reached majority, three sons and one daughter: David R., Benjamin Franklin, William Leroy and Mary Elizabeth. Of these sons, David R. enlisted at the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion in 1861. in
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Company A, Fifty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served three years, participating in the important engagements in which his regiment took part, including the battle of Chickamauga. Soon after the close of the war he began the study and practice of medicine, making his home at Oakland City until in the year 1875, when he went to. Arkansas, in which state he resided during the remainder of his life. Ile died at his home in Ellsworth, Logan county, Arkansas, June 12, 1901, in his sixty-first year of age.
Benjamin F. Leister was also a soldier in the Civil war, having enlisted in the summer of 1861, at Vincennes, Indiana, in Company K, Twenty- fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was with his regiment in all its campaigns. In the battle of Champion's Hill, Mississippi, he received a mortal wound and died on the battlefield.
Willianı L. Leister, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born June the 14th, 1847, near the village of Lynnville, Warrick county, Indiana, where his parents resided at that time, coming with his family to Gibson county in the fall of 1854. The youth received a common school education, and owing to the calamity of total blindness which befell the senior Doctor Leister in the fall of 1863, the son was denied a complete collegiate training, but as much as possible he made amends for this deprivation. While providing sub- sistence for his parents and for his own family he secured the assistance of a noted teacher, Professor Lee Tomlin, then principal of the Oakland City Normal Institute, and was enabled to become proficient in English and in Latin, studying through the school years 1875, '76, '77 and '78.
Doctor Leister matriculated in the Eclectic Medical College of Cincin- nati, Ohio, in the fall of 1868. After attending part of four different years, the Doctor was graduated from the above named school of medicine in June, 1884.
September the 16th, 1869, Doctor Leister was united in marriage to Sue . L. VanZandt, daughter of James and Mary Nexy ( Fisher) VanZandt, pioneers of Gibson county. To this union Gail, Lloyd, Stanley, Mary Nexy and Josephine were born. In the year 1899, at Rogers, Arkansas, the wife of Doctor Leister passed away.
November 7, 1901, the Doctor married Carrie Lesbia Tubbs,. daughter of Levi M. and Arvilla (Frisby) Tubbs, York state people.
In the fall of 1905 his children having settled to themselves, Doctor Leister, with his wife, returned to his old boyhood home, Oakland City, Indiana.
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At present Doctor Leister is associate editor and medical book reviewer for the American Medical Journal of St. Louis, Missouri, having held this position the last twelve years. This well known publication is now in its forty-second year of existence.
Politically, Doctor Leister has always affiliated with the Republican party, though his professional engagements have necessarily prevented him from taking active part in political affairs. In his younger days the Doctor had been given to materialistic reasonings, but after he reached the summit of life's way, and when the shadows began to lengthen, he saw more clearly the will of the Master and more firmly believed in a happy immortality. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and gives liberal support to that society, yet he is broad in his religious views and acknowledges fellowship with all religious bodies.
In addition to his creditable career in his profession the Doctor has also proved an honorable member of the body politic, rising in the confidence and esteem of the public and in every relation of life he has never fallen below the dignity of true manhood, nor resorted in any way to methods that have in- vited criticism.
JOHN WILLIS SMITH.
Indefatigable industry. sound business judgment and wise management have been the elements which have contributed to the success achieved by John Willis Smith, enterprising and progressive fariner of Montgomery township, Gibson county, and director in the Owensville Banking Company. His farm is well improved and highly productive, being numbered among the best farms of the township in which he lives, and because of his high character and un- questioned integrity, he enjoys to a marked degree the sincere respect of the community.
John Willis Smith was born January 10, 1857, in Logan county, Illinois, near Atlanta, the son of Warrick and Margaret (Simpson) Smith. His father was originally from Gibson county, Indiana, having been born in Owensville, September 23. 1831, but directly after his marriage in 1856 he took his bride to Logan county, Illinois, with the intention of making their permanent home there. They remained there until 1868, carrying on farming and running a livery stable in the town of Atlanta, when they returned to Gibson county. Warrick Smith then purchased from his wife's father, John
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C. Simpson, their old home near Owensville, and there they passed the re- mainder of their lives and reared their family. There were four children born to them, one dying in infancy. Of the remaining three, John Willis, the immediate subject of this sketch, is the oldest of the family, George Wash- ington Smith is a retired farmer living in Owensville, and Lillie, the only daughter, is the wife of Charles Murnahan of the same place.
Warrick Smith, father of the subject of this sketch, was the only son of Doctor Willis J. Smith, one of the pioneer physicians of Gibson county, who came here from Danville, Kentucky, his birth-place, in early days. He was born about the year 1800, received an excellent education, finishing his medical training in Louisville, Kentucky, and came directly to Gibson county to take up his life work. He was a man of parts, broad minded and liberal beyond his time; in fact, a man many years in advance of his day and age. For several years he carried on an extensive practice over a large section, winning all with whom he came in contact through his charming personality and sterling worth. He won the friendship of the Indians who still roamed the forests hereabout and was by them considered a sort of demi-god. He died what seemed an early death for one so promising, departing this life in his thirty-sixth year. His wife was Patsy C. Warrick, daughter of Captain Jacob Warrick, whose history is closely associated with the early history of Gibson county, and who is often mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
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