USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 53
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Mr. Hadley and his family are faithful and earnest members of the Friends church, and have always contributed liberally of their substance to its support. He always has been a staunch Republican and always has been interested in the welfare of his community. He never has been an aspirant for public office, feeling that he never had the time to engage in the game of politics. While living in Westfield he was a member of the school board, and in that capacity did everything possible for the advancement of the educa- tional interests of Westfield and vicinity. Mr. Hadley is a man of well-bal- anced mind, sound and practical intelligence and mature judgment, and with his geniality and amiability of disposition, he has won a large and loyal follow- ing among his acquaintances. No citizen stands higher in the community than Mr. Hadley for the reason that he has always given his support to every movement for the educational, moral or material advancement of its citizens.
ALBERT R. BAKER.
One of the pioneers of Hamilton county is Albert R. Baker, a man who has been actively connected with the growth and development of his native county for more than half a century. He has seen service in the school room, in township and county offices, in city offices, in the business circles of his county and in the agricultural life of his community. In every capacity he has measured up to a high standard and to-day there is no more highly re- spected citizen in the county. He has grown up with the county and has never failed to do his share toward the advancement of its intellectual, civic, moral and material welfare.
Albert R. Baker, the son of Joseph and Anna ( Mills) Baker, was born
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September 6, 1846, in Jackson township in this county. His father was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and his mother in Highland county, Ohio. The Baker family originally came from England and were of Quaker stock, the first members in this country coming over with William Penn. Nehemiah Baker, the father of Joseph, went from Pennsylvania to Ohio with his family and later settled in Wayne county, Indiana. The Mills family went from Ohio to Wayne county and there Joseph Baker and Anna Mills were married. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Hamilton county and located in the woods in Jackson township. They built a rude log cabin and began to make a home in wilderness. Joseph Baker died in Noblesville, October 12, 1873, and his widow passed away in Noblesville township. They were the parents of four children who lived to maturity, four others dying in infancy. The children who lived to maturity are as follows: James, deceased; Nehe- miah, of Noblesville; Albert R., whose life history is here recorded; Eliza- beth, deceased.
Albert R. Baker was reared on the farm and educated in the country schools of his home neighborhood. He was ambitious to secure a good edu- cation and later attended the Union High school at Westfield, Indiana, and the schools at Adrian, Michigan. Ile then started to teach in this county and completed five very successful terms in the public schools. In 1872, he with- drew from the teaching profession and engaged in the drug business with George W. Vestal, the partnership continuing for the next five years. He was next interested in the livery business in Noblesville and conducted it very suc- cessfully for thirteen years. In the fall of 1890 he was elected treasurer of Hamilton and served for two years to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county. On leaving the office he engaged in farming for two years after which he again became interested in the drug business at Noblesville. In 1900 Mr. Baker was elected mayor of the city and held the office for four years during which time he favored every measure which he felt would benefit his home city in any way. After leaving the mayor's office he again engaged in the livery business and has followed it down to the present time. In 1908 he was elected to the office of trustee of Noblesville township and is still hold- ing this responsible position administering the office in such a way as to win the commendation of all concerned.
Mr. Baker was married November 13, 1873 to Caroline Cook, the daugh- ter of Levi H. and Mary J. (White) Cook, of Hamilton county. To this union there have been born two sons and two daughters, namely: Olin C., who is married and lives in Albion, Indiana; Fred L., who is married and is a resident of Noblesville; Edith, who married J. D. Allman, who is engaged
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in the clothing business in Noblesville; Esther, the wife of Harry Mills, of Noblesville.
The Republican party has always claimed the support of Mr. Baker and it has honored him on several occasions by nominating him for township, county and city offices. He has been a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions and always has been regarded as one of the leaders of his party in this county. In addition to the offices. previously mentioned he has served the public on the board of education and in the city council of Noblesville. The Baker family are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and give freely of their substance to its support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Royal Arcanum. Mr. Baker has been one of the most useful citizens of the county for many years and in all the relations of life has proved his worth.
JOEL D. BRAY.
Indiana will celebrate its centennial in 1916, and it would be indeed inter- esting if it were possible to present to the people of this state a cabin typical of those that constituted the dwelling places of the early pioneer life of our state. One hundred years ago practically every new house was a log cabin nestled away among the forest trees whose wide-spreading branches almost interlocked over its roof, as if their outstretched hands would shield it from the stormy blasts as well as shelter it from the burning sun. Birds sang in the branches of its protective trees, wild flowers bloomed around its doorstep and altogether the landscape seemed fairer than that which any painter could present to our eyes today. The high cost of living never bothered our good forefathers, and the throes of appendicitis never caused them any suffering. True. they had few of the conveniences of modern life, but that they were happy, as we are today, can hardly be doubted. Today there are living in Hamilton county the representatives of many of these pioneer families and these cherish with the deepest reverence the tales of the vicissitudes which their grandfathers and grandmothers were compelled to meet. One of the earliest families in the county was the Bray family, but unfortunately with the lapse of time it is hard to trace their history.
Joel D. Bray, county recorder of Hamilton county, Indiana, the son of John M. and Sarah ( Dickson) Bray, was born February 22, 1851, in Moores- ville, Morgan county, Indiana. John M. Bray came to Hamilton county in
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1859 and settled on the farm now owned by his son, T. T. Bray, his father having entered this land from the government December 13, 1833, the deed not having been recorded, however, until November 28, 1836. When the family first came to Hamilton county they slept the first night by the side of a large oak log and on rising the next morning, they began to cut logs for their home. It was only a short time until a rude log cabin was raised and in this cabin J. D. Bray was reared to manhood. John M. Bray was a successful farmer in this county, and at the time of his death owned two hundred and eighteen acres of excellent farming land. He was greatly interested in the breeding of live stock and was the first man to bring Durham cattle to Hamil- ton county. He voted the Whig ticket and upon the organization of the Republican party in 1856, threw his support in favor of the new party. He was a member of the Friends church and a man who was greatly interested in religious work. Fraternally, he was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was killed in the Broad Ripple wreck, January 31, 1884.
Joel D. Bray was twenty-one days old when his mother died and accord- ingly he was reared without the ministrations of a loving mother. As a youth he received but meager schooling, since the schools of his day offered but very poor instruction. However, he studied alone and later entered Earlham Col- lege, Richmond, Indiana, where he spent one year. He would have continued his college course if he had not been stricken with typhoid fever, but his illness left him in such a shape that he decided to remain on the farm and regain his health rather than run the risk of permanently impairing it by returning to college. He remained on the farm with his father until his marriage, when he engaged in farming on the old home farm, where he lived until September, 1899, when an unfortunate accident made it impossible for him to continue farming. While working with a corn-shredder he was so unfortunate as to lose his left arm and this necessitated his retiring permanently from the farm. He moved to Noblesville and became interested in the insurance and real estate business and has been remarkably successful in that line. He built up a good business by careful attention to details until he had a full share of work in his special line in Noblesville and the surrounding territory.
Mr. Bray was married on December 25, 1875, to Mary E. Williams, the daughter of Solomon and Margaret ( Murphy) Williams, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Bray's grandfather was a minister in the Friends church, a native of North Carolina and an early settler in Wayne county, this state. He was a man of marvelous eloquence and made several trips to England, where he preached for the Friends of that country.
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Mr. and Mrs. Bray are the parents of three children, of whom they are very proud, Walter W .; Harry H. and John L. Walter is the assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Noblesville; Harry, who lives in Nobles- ville for a time was in partnership with two other men in the milk business in Indianapolis, but is now manager of the gas plant at Middletown, Indiana. J. L. Bray, who for a time lived in Orland, Florida, where he was a book- keeper in the state bank of that city, now is deputy county recorder of Hamil- ton county, Indiana.
Politically, Mr. Bray is a Republican and for years has taken an active interest in politics, his services in behalf of his party having been rewarded in the fall election of 1914, when he was elected county recorder of Hamilton county. He and his family are all loyal members of the Friends church, and contribute generously of their time and means to its support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons Blue Lodge No. 57, and the Improved Order of Red Men, Cherokee Tribe No. 96. Mr. Bray and his wife are now living in their own home near Noblesville, surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of modern life. Mr. Bray is a man who is respected by every one with whom he has been associated, and is regarded as a man of the highest integrity and strictest probity.
JOHN GEORGE HEYLMANN.
The name of Heylmann has long been connected with the development and progress of Hamilton county, Indiana. The name has been borne by men who have reflected credit upon their county, upon their state and upon the country which gave them birth. It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a country lies not in the machinery of government nor even in its institu- tions, but rather in the qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish efforts and in his devotion to public welfare. One of the citizens of Hamilton county, who has not only won honor and success for himself in his specific line of endeavor. but who has conferred honor upon his community, is John George Heylmann, today the oldest active business man in Hamilton county. For nearly sixty years he has been identified with the business interests of Noblesville and during that period he has won a name for himself in his particular line of business. He is one of the oldest manu- facturers of vehicles in the state and the high quality of his products always has been recognized.
John George Heylmann, son of Frederick C. and Elizabeth (Arndt)
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Heylmann, was born October 6, 1834, in Prussia. His father was a farmer and lived all his days in the land of his birth, never coming to America. John G. Heylmann, as a young man of great ambition, felt that America offered so much wider opportunities than his own country that he would come here as soon as he was able to take care of himself. Accordingly, when he was eighteen years of age and had previously received a good common school education in his own land, he came to America and first located at Port Wash- ington, Ohio, a small village about half way between Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio. Here he learned the trade of a wagon and carriage maker, a trade which was destined to become his life work and win for him a fortune.
Mr. Heylmann landed in Noblesville, Indiana, in 1855, nearly sixty years ago, and during these three-score years he has been actively identified with the history of the city. Upon coming to this city, he immediately began to fol- low his trade, and a year later formed a partnership with Wesley Hare, for the manufacture of wagons, carriages and buggies. At that time all vehicles were hand made and consequently the annual output did not compare in any way with the enormous output of the factories of today with their many labor saving machines. The firm of Hare & Heylmann prospered from the start, its products soon becoming well known by reason of their superior qualities. This partnership continued for twenty-one years when it was dis- solved and then Mr. Heylmann established a similar factory of his own in Noblesville, which he has continued to operate down to the present time. For the past thirty years his sons have been associated with him in the business. The firm of J. G. Heylmann & Sons has placed its products throughout the state of Indiana and all of the states of the middle west. Mr. Heylmann always has insisted that only the best workmanship and the best materials enter into the manufactured product. with the result that his vehicles always have maintained their high standard of excellence. It is needless to say that he has prospered and that he has become one of the substantial men of his city. For many years he has been a large land owner, he and his sons owning four hundred acres of as fine land as can be found in Hamilton county. In addi- tion to his agricultural interests. he is a director of the Citizens State Bank, a stockholder in the Wainwright Trust Company and also owns much valuable real estate in Noblesville. He lives in one of the most imposing residences in the city of Noblesville at the corner of Tenth and Logan streets.
Mr. Heylmann was married January 13, 1859, to Caroline Barth. To this union have been born six children, three sons, Frederick E., George, de- ceased. and George B., both of the surviving sons having been associated with
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their father in business for many years, and three daughters, two of whom, Caroline and Della, are deceased, and Louise at home.
Mr. Heylmann has been engaged in business in Noblesville longer than any man in Hamilton county. No man within the limits of the county is more widely known and universally respected. He has been a life long Democrat in politics but has never been actively identified with the affairs of his party, his large business interests having demanded all of his time and attention. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Frederick E. Heylmann, son of John G. Heylmann, was born in Nobles- ville, on October 30, 1861. He was raised and educated in the public schools of Noblesville, and later attended the Commercial College of Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1883, he and his brother George B., became associated with their father in business, under the firm name of J. G. Heylmann and Sons. Within recent years the manufacture of wagons has been discontinued and entire attention of the firm devoted to the manufacture of lighter vehicles, many of them being of special designs and patterns. They are not only manufacturers of high class vehicles of all kinds, but also have added auto- mobiles to their sales department and do a large business along that line.
Frederick E. Heylmann is a stockholder of the Citizens National Bank and a director of the Wainwright Trust Company of Noblesville, and as has been mentioned, he with his brother and father own about four hundred acres of fine farming land near Noblesville which is highly improved and under cultivation. General farming is carried on with a considerable amount of stock raising. Frederick F. Heylmann was married June 30, 1896, to Cora Ingermann, daughter of George W. and Amanda (Dale) Ingermann, of Noblesville. Both of his wife's parents are deceased. Frederick T. Heyl- mann and wife are the parents of three daughters, Dale, Caroline and Frances. Frederick Heylmann follows in the footsteps of his father in political affairs and always has affiliated with the Democratic party, though he never has been an office seeker. However, he maintains an active interest in public affairs and is a consistent advocate of good government. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias and of the Protective Order of Elks. He has retired permanently from active participation in the management of the firm's business, though, still keeping up an active interest in the social life of the com- munity, in the affairs of which he and his family take a prominent part.
John George Heylmann and his sons represent a fine type of American business men, and yet they have never let their material success blind them to their duty to their fellow-men. Personally they enjoy the warm esteem of many men, who recognize in their cordial and affable manners the distinguish- ing characteristics of the true gentleman.
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CHARLES H. WANN.
The career of Charles H. Wann, a native son of this county, sets forth the history of a gentleman who has arisen to a place of prominence in his county solely through the use of his own efforts. For many years a public school teacher of this county, he came in contact with hundreds of young people and in this way exerted an influence for good, which never can be properly measured by earthly standards. A man of high ideals and strong character, he has impressed his individuality upon the growing youths who have been under his able instruction. Ten years of work in the school room gives one a keen insight into human nature and an equipoise which is a valu- able asset in any other profession. Mr. Wann always has been active in the civic life of his county and is now the efficient surveyor of Hamilton county. In this office he is performing his duties in a faithful, conscientious and pains- taking manner and thereby winning for himself success in a new field of endeavor.
Charles H. Wann, the son of Andrew and Amanda (Snyder) Wann, was born on a farm in White River township in this county February 6, 1884. His parents, who also are natives of this county, are of German descent and those sterling characteristics which have made the German people of this country such desirable citizens, have descended to their son. They are still living in Jackson township near Cicero, where Mr. Wann is a prosperous farmer. He has been active in Democratic politics in this county and has served as assessor and township committeeman from his township, Andrew Wann and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Cicero.
Charles H. Wann was given a good common school education and was graduated from the Arcadia high school in 1902. He then attended Indiana University at Bloomington for two years and the Winona Biological Academy for one term, after which he began teaching school and was in the school room until the end of the school year 1912. He then began teaching at the Hale schoolhouse in Jackson township, in this county, and taught there for two years, after which he taught at Sumner school, in Jackson township, continu- ously for the next nine years, where he made an enviable record as a pro- gressive and successful instructor of young people. He is a musician of ability and for the past several years has taught mandolin and guitar music in classes in different parts of the county. He owns a small farm in Jackson township where he lived and farmed during the summer season.
Mr. Wann was married September 10, 1907, to Laura Noble, the daugh- ter of Elia and Martha ( Hershman) Noble of Jackson township. His wife's
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mother died seven years ago and her father is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Wann have one son, Merrill Noble, who was born December 1, 1908.
Mr. Wann always has been a Democrat and has given much active service to his party in this county. In 1910 he was the candidate for county sur- veyor, but went down to defeat with the rest of the Democratic ticket. Nothing daunted, he again became the candidate in 1912 and was elected at the Novem- ber election in that year for the two years beginning January 1, 1913. Upon taking up the duties of his office he moved to Noblesville where he is now living. In the performance of his duties in this office of county surveyor he gave the same careful and painstaking attention which he gave to his school work, with the result that his administration of this difficult office gave uni- versal satisfaction. Mr. Wann's service to the county proved so valuable that upon the expiration of his term he still was retained in the public service, being now deputy auditor in the office of County Auditor William O. Horton.
Fraternally, Mr. Wann is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, while he and his wife are both earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and take an active part in church and Sunday school work. For nine consecutive years Mr. Wann taught the Young People's Bible class at the Salem Methodist church in his home township. During his years as a teacher he was regarded as one of the foremost educators of this county. Mr. Wann is a man of clean character in every way and his genial personality wins him friends everywhere he goes. The world needs such men as he, for his in- fluence is always cast for the better things in life.
JAMES T. HINSHAW.
The United States has been called the melting pot of the world, for to our shores have come peoples from every corner of the globe with the result that there is hardly a civilized nation which has not contributed its quota in the past to the hundred millions that today call America their home. The language now contains more than four thousand words, but there is one magic word which has made this country the great nation it is today. Who shall deny that this one word is Liberty! While it is true that there are other talismanic words which have been as magnets to draw to these shores millions from every quarter of the Old World, yet Liberty comprehends them all. It brought the Pilgrim forefathers from England, the Hugenots from France, the Jews from Russia. the Slavs from Austria, the Irish from the Emerald Isle. and the oppressed from everywhere.
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MR. AND MRS. JAMES T. HINSHAW
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In the latter part of the eighteenth century there came to North Caro- lina an ambitious son of Ireland who was destined to become the progenitor of a numerous family of worthy American citizens, some of whom are rep- resentative citizens of Hamilton county today. The particular motive which induced Thomas Hinshaw to come to North Carolina in 1793 from the green fields of his native Ireland will never be known, but it is reasonable to suppose it was because here might be found that Liberty which was not vouchsafed him in his own country. Born at Bellingham, county of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1764, Thomas Hinshaw grew to manhood in his native land and there learned the weaver's trade. During the last year of Washington's first administration he gathered his few possessions, his shuttles, scissors and other tools of his trade and came to America alone and settled on Cane Creek in North Carolina. Some of his shuttles are still in the possession of the family. Concerning his life there is little definite information, but it is known that he married a colleen of the name of Rebecca Holliday after coming to this country. She was the daughter of William Holliday, born in this country, of Irish parentage and proved a worthy wife and mother. There is not much known of the Holliday family, but it is thought that William Holliday and his family went to North Carolina from Pennsylvania or Virginia. The story has been handed down that Rebecca and one sister made the trip in baskets strapped on either side of the back of the horse on which their mother rode to North Carolina. To this first couple of the Hinshaw family in this country were born six children: Mary, Sarah, Martha, Deborah, Stephen and Hannah. From these have come thousands of descendants, but in this present sketch we are interested only in the children of Stephen, the grandfather of James T. Hinshaw, a sterling rep- resentative of the name now living in Washington township, in this county, and whose history forms the conclusion of this family narrative.
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