History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 55

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

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James W. Smith was reared upon the farm in Marion county and edu- cated in the country schools and later attended the Indiana State Normal school at Terre Haute. Early in life he began to teach and for fifteen years taught in the district graded and normal schools of Hancock and Marion

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counties. He was an excellent instructor and the teaching profession lost one of its ablest members when he retired from the school room. He went to Noblesville, Indiana, on November 1, 1887, and opened an office for the real estate, loan and general insurance business and has since been a resident of that city. He is a man of keen business ability and rare foresight, the latter quality being an indispensable characteristic for the successful real estate man. His business consists mostly of buying and selling farm land. He buys the farms outright, then sells them, not acting as an agent for the farmer himself. In this way he has accumulated a comfortable competency for himself and is one of the largest land owners of the county, having more than four hundred acres. In addition to his farm interest, he is heavily interested in many of the industries of Noblesville. He has been vice-president of the Wainwright Trust Company since its 'organization and also vice-president of the American National Bank of Noblesville since its organization in 1910. The latter financial institution has had a phenomenal growth during the short period it has been in existence and promises to become one of the most sub- stantial financial institutions of this section of the state. Mr. Smith is also identified with various public utilities in Noblesville. He was the promoter of the Noblesville Water Company and its president for a number of years. He has been connected with the Noblesville Electric Light Company and the Noblesville Gas Company, both of which have grown to be large and suc- cessful institutions of the city, and also has been connected with the water works company and was instrumental in securing for Noblesville the first brick pavements, this improvement having been projected when he was mayor of the city, the people voting for the improvement after a hard contest. Mr. Smith is a very busy man of affairs and a man with large financial interests. He has given generously of his superb powers in furthering the industrial and civic upbuilding of his city and his name justly merits a conspicuous place on the roll with those who have worthily conserved its progress.

Mr. Smith was married September 27, 1883, to Mary E. Littleton, the daughter of William F. and Margaret ( Hanna ) McCord, of Hancock county, Indiana. To this union has been born one daughter, Myrta Margeurite, the wife of Eugene C. Pulliam, formerly of Atchison, Kansas, now of Franklin, Indiana. Mrs. Smith and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church and have always taken an active part in church and Sunday school work, Mr. Smith at the present time being a member of the Board of Trustees. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights of Pythias.

In the civic life of his community Mr. Smith has taken a prominent part.

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For four years he served as mayor of Noblesville and for nine years was on the board of education and was treasurer of the board during the larger part of the time. Mr. Smith keeps in touch with all movements expressive of modern thought along its various lines and is a man of scholarly and refined tastes, while his familiarity with the practical affairs of the day makes him feel at ease with all classes or conditions of people whom he meets.

JOHN A. MATTHEWS.

Whether the elements of success in life are innate attributes of the indi- vidual or whether they are quickened by a process of circumstantial develop- ment, it is impossible to clearly determine. Yet the study of a successful life, whatever the field of endeavor, is none the less interesting and profitable by reason of the existence of this same uncertainty. So much in excess of those of success are the records of failures or semi-failures, that one is constrained to attempt an analysis in either case and to determine the measure of causa- tion in an approximate way. But in studying the life history of the late well known resident of Noblesville, Indiana. whose name forms the caption of this sketch, we find evidence of many qualities that always gain definite success in any career if properly directed, as his evidently had been done, resulting in a life of good to others and leaving a memory which long shall be cherished in the community of which he so long had formed a valued unit.

John A. Matthews, deceased, for many years one of the best known resi- dents of Hamilton county, Indiana. was born March 2, 1839, in Clark county, Ohio, near New Carlisle. He was the son of Samuel and Lydia ( Porter) Matthews, the father being a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, and the mother of Clark county, Ohio. Samuel Matthews was a millwright and lived all of his days in Clark county, Ohio.

John A. Matthews was reared in this rural district and was educated in the schools of New Carlisle and Lyndon Hill Academy, Ohio. After gradu- ating from the academy, in 1857, he came to Shelby county, Indiana, and taught the first school on the banks of Flat Rock in the winter of 1857-58. He then returned to Ohio and at the breaking out of the Civil War tried to enlist. but was rejected on account of physical disability. Four of his brothers enlisted and went to the front and it was a great disappointment to John A.

. that he could not go with them. He remained in Ohio during the war and after his marriage at the opening of the war he learned the broom-making

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business, raising the corn from which he made his brooms. He followed this trade for several years in New Carlisle, Ohio, and in 1866 moved to Casstown, Miami county, Ohio, where he began to teach and where he taught for the next ten years. In the fall of 1877 he went to Atlanta, in Hamilton county, where he was engaged as a teacher in the public schools, remaining there until 1886, when he moved to Noblesville and taught in the schools there for the next ten years. In 1896 he was appointed, without any solicitation on his part, as justice of the peace and served in this office for two years. He was then elected for a term of four years to the office, after which he became connected with the circulation department of the Indianapolis New's, subsequently clerk- ing for two years in the county auditor's office and later in the office of the county treasurer. July 10, 1910, he was again appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of justice of the peace and at the expiration of his appointment he was again elected. He was elected at the November, 1912, election for a full term of four years, and was serving in this capacity at the time of his death. He always had been a stanch Republican in politics and had done much active service as a member of the county committee of that party. He was a fre- quent delegate to township, county, district and state conventions, and long was regarded as one of the leaders of his party in this county. Before moving to this state, he had been elected for two terms as township clerk of Clark county, Ohio.

Mr. Matthews was married December 3, 1861, to Mary Hill, the daughter of John and Samantha (Stillwell) Hill, and to this union were born four children : Carrie E., the wife of Cassius E. Albert of Noblesville; Osee, the wife of Edward Lytle, of Anderson, Indiana; Theresa H., the wife of John R. Dougherty, of San Francisco, California, and Florence F., the wife of Leroy Dale, of Indianapolis. Mr. Matthews was a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he and his family always were interested in the local activities of that denomination. Mr. Matthews not only took an active part in church work but had been superintendent of the Sunday school and for many years was a teacher in the Sunday school. He had held different official positions in the church, having been active in its support since a young man. He lived a long and useful career and undoubtedly was the means of doing an untold amount of good. No one can estimate the good which an earnest teacher does and during his many years of service he had been the means of directing the minds of the youth of this county to a contemplation of the higher and better things. He proved equal to all the tasks which he undertook and consequently his memory justly deserves the high tribute of respect which the people of this county so gratefully pay.

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CYRUS R. HEATH.

In past ages the history of a country was comprised chiefly in the record of its wars and conquests. Today history is largely a record of commercial activity and those whose names are foremost in the annals of the nation are those who have become leaders in business circles. The conquests now made are those of mind over matter, and the victor is he who can most successfully establish, control and operate commercial interests. Mr. Heath is one of the strong and influential men whose lives have provided an essential part in the history of Hamilton county. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of purpose, genius for devising and executing the right thing in the right place and time are the chief characteristics of the man. These, combined with everyday common sense and guided by strong will power, are concomitants which will insure success in any undertaking.

Cyrus R. Heath, the vice-president of the Indiana Gas Light Company, was born September 4, 1867, on a farm in Delaware county, Indiana, near Muncie. His parents, Rev. Jacob W. and Rhoda (Purdue) Heath, were pioneer settlers of Delaware county. Rev. Jacob W. Heath was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. He and his wife are both deceased.

Cyrus R. Heath was reared in Muncie, Indiana, and attended the public schools of that city. He left school before completing the high school course and began clerking in a book store in Muncie. He worked in the book store for several years and then became interested in the newspaper business in Muncie, eventually becoming editor and proprietor of the Muncie Daily News, a strong Republican paper, and one which did a great deal of good for the building up of the city and county, wielded a broad and beneficent in- fluence, long being regarded as one of the leading papers of this section of the state. As editor of this paper, Mr. Heath became favorably known throughout Indiana. Positive in his views he expressed himself in a literary style so admirable as to attract the attention and elicit the praise even of those who disagreed with him in his opinions.

In 1900 Mr. Heath sold his newspaper and came to Noblesville as presi- dent of the Noblesville Gas and Improvement Company. This is the first and only company which supplied Noblesville with natural gas. The company was a great factor in making Noblesville an important manufacturing center. In 1912 this company sold its holdings and franchises to the Indiana Gas Light Company, Mr. Heath becoming the vice-president of the new corpora- tion. He still holds this position, although he is also connected with various other gas organizations in different parts of the country. His interests are

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not confined solely to the gas companies, since he has financial interests in various corporate companies in other lines of business. He is essentially a man of affairs and with his keen business ability is able to handle complicated business matters in an intelligent way.

Mr. Heath was married November 9, 1900, to Catherine L. Bray, daugh- ter of John L. and Caroline ( Thompson) Bray. John L. Bray was a promi- nent farmer and one of the largest land holders in Hamilton county, at the time he was killed in a Monon railroad accident in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Heath have two daughters and one son, Phoebe Anna, Mary Catherine and Cyrus Ralph, Jr.

The Republican party has claimed the support of Mr. Heath and he has naturally been a prominent figure in politics, owing to his former connection with the newspaper business. While living in Muncie he served two terms as police commissioner by appointment of Governor James A. Mount. He was never an aspirant for any public office and filled this office only at the earnest solicitation of the governor. Since coming to Noblesville he has served as Republican city chairman and has been a frequent delegate to county, dis- trict and state conventions. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and has attained to the thirty-second degree in that order. He is also a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, the same denomination in which his father served so faithfully for many years. His wife is a loyal member of the Friends church. The family home is one of the most beautiful in Noblesville and is located at the corner of Ninth and Hannibal streets.

DR. WILLIAM B. GRAHAM.

The man who devotes his talents and energies to the noble work of ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity pursues a calling which in dignity, importance and beneficence is second to none other. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of use- fulness, he is indeed a benefactor to all of his kind, for to him more than to any other man are entrusted the safety, the comfort and in many instances the lives of those who place themselves under his care. Amongst this class of professional men is Dr. William B. Graham, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, who has stood for many years with few peers and no.superiors among the physicians of Hamilton county, Indiana, during which time he has

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not only gained a wide reputation in his chosen vocation, but has also estab- lished an equally wide reputation for uprightness and nobility of character in all the relations of life. He early realized that to those who attain deter- minate success in the medical profession there must be not only given technical ability, but also a broad human sympathy which must pass from mere senti- ment to an actuating motive for helpfulness, so he has dignified and honored his profession by noble services in which through years he has attained un- qualified success.

Dr. William B. Graham, an honored veteran of the Civil War, and a physician of Hamilton county for nearly fifty-four years, was born on a farm in Butler county, Pennsylvania. October 22, 1835. His parents, William M. and Amanda H. (Kerr) Graham, lived and died in Pennsylvania, and never came to Indiana. William M. Graham was a prominent man in his native state, and held many official positions, being at one time a member of the Pennsylvania state legislature.

Dr. William B. Graham was reared on the farm and attended the country schools of his home county. Later he attended the West Sunbury schools in his home county, after which he taught school one year in his home neighbor- hood. At the age of twenty-one years he left home and came west, where he made his home with an uncle. Dr. Joseph B. Kerr, in Marion county, Indi- ana. He taught school for four and one-half years after coming to this .county, teaching eight different terms in all, most of which were subscription schools. At the same time he read medicine with his uncle, later reading medicine with another uncle, Dr. Harvey Kerr. at Broad Ripple, in Marion county, finishing his medical studies with this latter uncle. However, he felt that in order to make the best success in his chosen life work, he should take a college course, and with this thought in view, entered the medical depart- ment of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he spent one year, and then entered Rush Medical College at Chicago, Illinois, from which institution he was graduated in 1861. He first located at Clarksville, this county, in partnership with Dr. P. P. Whitesell, with whom he remained a year.and a half, the partnership being dissolved when Doctor Graham re- ceived a commission as assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and First Regi- ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He received his commission in the spring of 1863 and nine months later was promoted to the rank of major and made surgeon of the same regiment, serving in this capacity until the close of the war. He was honorably discharged June 24, 1865. During his service in the army, Doctor Graham was captured at Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, but was paroled to take care of those wounded on the battlefield until they

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could be sent through the lines, he being obligated to report to the provost marshal at Ringgold, Georgia. Doctor Graham was kept on the battle ground for twelve days ministering to the wounded and at the end of this time reported at Ringgold, from which point he was sent to Richmond, Vir- ginia, where he was kept in Libby prison until November 24, 1863, when he was exchanged and was enabled to return to his regiment, with which he served until the end of the war.

Immediately after the close of the war Doctor Graham returned to Hamilton county, Indiana, and resumed the practice of his profession in Noblesville, where he ever since has made his home. It is not too much to say that no student physician of today, no matter what college he attends or how much time he puts in attending clinics, receives the practical experience that Doctor Graham did at the front. After each battle he had the oppor- tunity to treat more cases than falls to the lot of the ordinary physician of today in a lifetime. Every conceivable variety of wounds were to be handled and in the vast experience which he gained during his service in the war, he received a training which formed the basis for his later successful career. There is no need in this connection to dilate upon his career as a physician during his fifty years of life in Noblesville. Suffice it to say that his name is a household word in hundreds of families, many members of which he has brought into this world, and been present at their departure.

Doctor Graham has kept fully abreast of the times and has been a close student of medical science from the day that he graduated from college down to the present time. He maintains his membership in the Hamilton County, the Indiana State and the National Medical Associations, and takes a deep interest in their annual meetings. He has been president of and has filled every office in the Hamilton County Medical Society. He has been a mem- ber of the Hamilton county board of pension examiners and gave twenty-one years of his active life to service on this board. For thirty years he has been the surgeon of the New York Central Railway Company at Noblesville. For several years he was a member of the Noblesville board of health and its secretary.

Doctor Graham was married July 25, 1865, to Clara Darrow, the daugh- ter of James and Elizabeth (Passwater) Darrow, of this county, and to this union have been born six children, Alice, the wife of C. J. Smith, of Portland, Oregon; Edith, who is still at home; William D., a dentist of Noblesville; Robert K., of Noblesville. Illinois; Mary, who is at home, and Donald, an architect of Indianapolis.

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Doctor Graham is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a loyal member of Lookout Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Noblesville, and has been promi- nent in the affairs of this post. Politically, he has always been a Republican, but in 1912, he became one of the four million Progressives who voted for Theodore Roosevelt. Religiously, he and the members of his family are adherents of the Methodist Episcopal church of Noblesville, and have been active in church and Sunday school work. Doctor Graham is now rounding out his four score years and as the twilight of his life draws near, he can look back over a span of years filled with usefulness, no man today standing higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than Doctor Graham, the oldest practicing physician of Hamilton county.

DR. HENRY H. THOMPSON.

Devoted to the noble work which his profession implies, Dr. Henry H. Thompson has been indefatigable in his endeavors and has not only earned the meet rewards of his efforts in a temporal way, but has also proved him- self eminently worthy to exercise the important functions of his calling, by reason of his ability, his abiding sympathy and his earnest zeal in behalf of his fellow men. His understanding of the science of medicine is regarded . by all those who know him as being broad and comprehensive, and the pro- fession and the public accord him a distinguished place among the men of his class in Indiana. His has been a life of earnest and persistent endeavor, such as always brings a true appreciation of the real value of human existence- a condition that must be prolific of good results in all the relations of life.

Dr. Henry H. Thompson, son of Rev. Oliver S. and Kate (Henry) Thompson, was born May 16, 1877, at Belleville, Illinois. His father was a native of Carroll county, Indiana, and has been a minister of the Presbyterian church all his life. Most of his ministerial services have been in the states ' of Illinois and Iowa, and he is now living a retired life in Nashville, Illinois. His wife was born in Washington county, Illinois, and is a direct descendant of Patrick Henry, of Revolutionary fame. The Thompsons are descended from the Lorimer family, of Philadelphia. John Craw, the grandfather of Doctor Thompson's mother, served in the Illinois legislature with Abraham Lincoln, and was an intimate friend of the martyred president. He also served in the Illinois Constitutional convention with Lincoln in 1848. Oliver

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Thompson and wife were the parents of two children, Florence, who is un- married and living with her father, and Doctor Thompson, whose history is here briefly recorded.

Doctor Thompson was reared and educated in Illinois, and being the son of a minister, his education was received in the various towns where his father preached. He was graduated from the Nashville, Illinois, high school in 1894 and immediately entered Hanover, Indiana, College, a Presbyterian school. He was graduated from this college in 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of Science and immediately came to Noblesville, where he became instructor in Latin in the high school, where he remained as teacher of Latin from 1898 to 1900 and in the latter year was elected principal of the high school, serving in that capacity for one year. In 1901 he was granted the degree of Master of Arts from Hanover College, and in the fall of the same year entered the medical department of Washington University, from which he was graduated four years later, immediately after which he began the practice of his pro- fession in Noblesville, and has been engaged continuously in the practice in this city since that time. During his last year in college he was interne at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Louis, where he gained valuable experience. In the summer of 1913 he returned to Washington University and took a post- graduate course. Doctor Thompson has kept fully abreast of the times in . the advance of medical science and has handled many difficult cases since coming to Noblesville. Natural ability, thorough technical training and a devotion for and enthusiasm in his work have been contributing factors to the splendid success which has characterized his work.

Doctor Thompson has been health officer of Noblesville since 1906 and still holds this important office. having met with unusual success in the ad- ministration of its duties. He is a member of the Hamilton County, Indiana State and American Medical Societies. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha medical fraternity, whose membership is limited to honor students. He is the surgeon for the Union Sanitary Manufacturing Company, of Nobles- ville. Doctor Thompson has built up an extensive general practice and also does a large amount of surgical work.

Doctor Thompson was married October 7, 1908, to Helen Fertig, the daughter of Walter R. and Jennie (Ross) Fertig, a prominent family of Noblesville. He and his wife are both earnest members of the Presbyterian church and are active in church and Sunday school work.

Doctor Thompson is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and a charter member of Noblesville Lodge No. 576, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a past master of the Masonic lodge and has held all

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the chairs in the Elks lodge in Noblesville. He also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is a Republican, and though he has been active in public affairs has not felt inclined to seek official honors. While in Hanover College he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, one of the oldest Greek letter fraternities. He has always taken a com- mendable interest in the civic life of his community and although profession- ally a busy man he has given his earnest support to all movements which have promised to benefit his city in any way.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 55

Author: John F. Haines Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051