History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 65

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

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Mr. Wild was first married to Margaret Barth March 3, 1858, and to them were born Emma S., John F., Dorothea K., Leonard G. and Margaret, all of whom survive their father. Mrs. Wild died March 23, 1878. Mr. Wild married his second wife, Mrs. Martha H. Pontious, August 20, 1885, and she survives him.

Mr. Wild was a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Elks Lodges and his presence is greatly missed by these orders. For more than a half · century Leonard Wild was a familiar figure in the city of Noblesville. He was truly a self-made man. By industry, perseverance and economy he grew from a poor boy to a man of means and power. No man has done so much to build up and beautify the city of his adoption. The buildings he erected will be monuments to his memory for years to come.

Mr. Wild was one of the youngest old men we ever knew. He carried the weight of years with a light heart. He enjoyed the society and pleasures of the young, and entered heartily into their games and amusements. A virtue that shone resplendent in all his life was his affection and devotion for his home and his family. His children had the most loving care and his grandchildren were the delight of his eye .. After so earnest and strenuous a life it seems distressing that he could not have lived on to enjoy the peace

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and comfort of a ripe old age in the beautiful home that he so recently completed. However, it was not to be, and he died quietly on Sunday morn- ing, December 12, 1909. In his death there passed away a man who was possessed of great simplicity, purity and geniality of character. He was an ideal husband, father and citizen and in all that counts towards the ideal man, he was prompted by the loftiest ideals.

CASSIUS C. CURTIS.

The present age is essentially utilitarian and the life of every successful man carries a lesson which, told in contemporary narrative, is productive of much good. in shaping the destinies of others. There is, therefore, a due measure of satisfaction in presenting, even in a brief resume, the life and achievements of such men, and in preparing the following history of the successful and popular dentist whose name appears above it is with the hope that it may prove not only interesting and instructive, but also serve as an incentive to those who contemplate making the dental profession their life work.

Dr. Cassius C. Curtis, of Noblesville, Indiana, was born in Athens county, Ohio, on August 19, 1860. His parents, Leander E. and Caroline C. (Pennypacker). Curtis, were both natives of the same county, and the father led the life of a farmer in that county until his death, several years ago, the mother still living with one of her daughters in West Virginia.

Cassius C. Curtis was reared on his father's farm and lived the life of a simple country lad until he entered Ohio University at Athens. . After taking a course in the university he taught school for one year and then decided to take up the study of dentistry. Accordingly, he entered the Cincinnati Den- tal College, but finished his dental education in the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis. Immediately after his graduation from the latter institu- tion, in the spring of 1884, he came to Noblesville, where he opened his office for practice on April I of that year, and has been in continuous prac- tice in this city for the past thirty-one years, always enjoying a large and profitable patronage in Noblesville and the surrounding territory. He is a man who has kept pace with the wonderful advance noted in his chosen field of endeavor and keeps his office well equipped with the latest tools and machinery in order to use the most improved methods in dentistry. He is a member of the Indiana State Dental Society and takes an active interest in the annual meetings of this organization.

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Doctor Curtis was married November 17, 1886, to Dorothea Wild, daughter of Leonard and Margaret ( Barth) Wild. Leonard Wild was for many years one of the most influential men of Hamilton county, and the reader is referred to his history elsewhere in this volume for a detailed ac- count of his interesting career. Doctor Curtis and wife are the parents of two children, both of whom are still living with their parents, Margaret and Cassius W. Politically, Doctor Curtis has been a stanch Republican all of his life, and has always been interested and kept well informed upon all public matters of interest. The nature of his profession has made it im- possible for him to take a very active part in political affairs and has en- tirely precluded him from being an aspirant for any public office. His lucra- tive practice for so many years has given him a goodly share of this world's goods, and he has made various investments in the enterprises of his home city. He is a stockholder and director in the Citizens State Bank and in the Wainwright Trust Company. He also has extensive real estate interests in Noblesville and is a director in the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction Com- pany. Fraternally, Doctor Curtis has taken all the degrees, including the thirty-second, in Masonry, while religiously, he and the members of his family are earnest members of the Presbyterian church. He enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance throughout this county, and is everywhere held in high esteem by those who know him. His career presents a notable ex- ample of those qualities of mind and character which win success, and his example is eminently worthy of imitation.

EARL BROOKS.

Professional success results from merit. Frequently in commercial life one may come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or gift, but in what are known as the learned professions advancement is gained only through painstaking and long continued effort. Prestige in the dental profession is the outcome of strong mentality, close application, thorough mastery of its great underlying principles and the ability to apply theory to practice in the treatment of the teeth. Good intellectual training, thorough professional knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and attributes essential to success have made the subject of this review emi- nent in his chosen calling and he is recognized as one of the leading dentists in central Indiana.

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Earl Brooks, a prosperous dentist of Noblesville, Indiana, was born in Fall Creek township, Hamilton county, Indiana, March 23, 1883. He is the son of Joseph Augustus and Clara ( Fisher) Brooks, both of whom are na- tives of this county. Doctor Brooks is the grandson of Madison Brooks, who died in April, 1910, and whose interesting life history is recorded else- where in this volume. Madison Brooks, who was one of the most prominent citizens of the county in his day, lacked but four years of completing a full century. as a citizen of this state.

Doctor Brooks was reared on his father's farm in this county and after graduating from the common schools entered the Noblesville high school and was graduated from it in 1902. In the fall of 1902 he matricu- lated at the Indiana State University at Bloomington, where he remained in attendance for the next two years, when he decided that he wished to enter the dental profession, and with this in mind he entered Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis, from which institution he was graduated in the spring of 1907. Immediately after his graduation he commenced the practice of his profession in Noblesville and has built up a large and lucrative practice. He combines with practical skill that rare sympathy and patience which the successful dentist must have, and the result is that he is numbered among the most successful dentists of central Indiana. He is a wide reader of all lit- erature bearing upon his chosen life work and keeps in close touch with the latest advances in his line. He is a member of the State and National Den- tal Associations, the Northern Indiana Dental Association and the Indian- apolis Dental Society. While in college he joined the dental fraternity known as the Delta Sigma Delta and still retains an active interest in the affairs of this organization.

Doctor Brooks was married September 25, 1906, to Stella Miesse, the daughter of Jonathan and Etta (Stanbraugh) Miesse, of Noblesville, In- diana, and to this happy union have been born two daughters, Ruth and Mary Esther. Fraternally, Doctor Brooks is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. In politics he has always been interested in the success of the Republican party and is known as a public-spirited citizen who is devoted to all move- ments having to do with the welfare of his city. He was elected a member of the Noblesville City Council in November, 1913, for a term of four years. He and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is a member of the official board and was superintendent of the Sun- day school for two years. He has always been active in church and Sunday school work and has at all times lived in full accord with the teachings of

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his church. Because of his many splendid personal qualities and upright life, he has a host of warm personal friends throughout the county where he has lived his whole life.

MADISON BROOKS.

In the early days the Middle West was often a tempting field to ener- getic, ambitious, strong-minded men, and Indiana was filled with them dur- ing the time she was struggling up to a respectable position in the sisterhood of states. There was a fascination in the broad field and great promise which this new region presented to activity that attracted many men and induced them to brave the discomforts of the early life here for the pleasure and gratification of constructing their fortunes in their own way and after their own methods. It is this class of men more than any other who give shape, direction and character to the business of a community. The late Madison Brooks, for a long span of years one of the most substantial and prominent farmers of Hamilton county, became identified with this favored section of the country at an early date, and from the first wielded a potent influence. He gave to the world the best of an essentially virile, loyal and noble nature and his standard of honor was absolutely inflexible. He was a citizen of high civic ideals, and ever manifested his liberality in connection with measures and enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the community honored by his residence. He was the architect of his own fortune and upon the record of his career there rests no blemish, for he was true to the highest ideals and principles in business, civic and social life. He lived and labored to worthy ends and as one of the sterling citizens and rep- resentative men of his locality in a past generation his memory merits a tribute of honor on the pages of history.

The late Madison Brooks, of Hamilton county, Indiana, was born in North Carolina September 15, 1814, and died in his country home in Fall Creek township. He was the son of John and Elizabeth (Heath) Brooks and the grandson of William Brooks, a native of England, who came to America early in life and settled in Maryland. William Brooks was a sol- dier of the Revolutionary War and a man of much prominence in his com- munity. He moved from Virginia to North Carolina, where John Brooks, the father of Madison, was born.

In the fall of 1813, when Madison was a babe in arms, John Brooks,

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with his family, moved from North Carolina to Indiana, settling in Jefferson county. In this county Madison Brooks was reared to manhood, receiving the limited schooling which was afforded by the subscription schools of that period. Madison Brooks came to Hamilton county in 1853 and purchased one hundred and forty acres of land in Fall Creek township. Fifty acres of this was cleared, but the only building on the farm was a dilapidated log cabin. He and his wife began housekeeping in this county under truly dis- couraging circumstances, but they set to work with a will and with the as- sistance of their children the land was cleared, buildings erected, fields were fenced and the farm was soon yielding a good return upon the original in- vestment. The good wife died the fall of the following year, passing away in August, 1854, leaving her husband with nine children.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Madison Brooks are as follows: Eliza- beth, deceased, who was the wife of Andrew J. Myers, a farmer of this county ; Samuel M., deceased, who was a farmer of this county; Eli, a far- mer of Noblesville township: Clarinda, deceased; Robert, a soldier in the Civil War, a prisoner at Andersonville, who died before he reached home from the service; Christie Ann, deceased, who was the wife of William . Virgin, a farmer of Delaware township; Melvin, a soldier of the Civil War, who was accidentally killed in a gravel pit shortly after returning from the army; Emily, deceased, the wife of Samuel Myers; Jasper N., deceased, and one child who died in infancy.

Madison Brooks was married a second time, December 20, 1855, to Mrs. Mary J. Hare, of Noblesville, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Hur- lick, who died in 1873. To them four children were born: Melanthon, Joseph Augustus, Albert and one who died in infancy. The third marriage of Mr. Brooks occurred March 20, 1877. to Elizabeth Jane Barnard, a native of North Carolina, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Barnard. Jesse Bar- nard and family came from North Carolina and settled in Hancock county, Indiana. There were no children by this last marriage.

Madison Brooks prospered in this county from the time of his arrival in 1862 up to the day of his death. With the assistance of his sons he cleared his first farm and soon had it in a high state of cultivation. His holdings increased from year to year, until at one time he owned more than two thousand five hundred acres. As his children married, he gave them farms, in all giving to his children and grandchildren about fourteen hundred acres, retaining until his death twenty-one hundred and fifty acres of fine, well-improved land in Hamilton, Hancock, Marion and Madison counties.

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Mr. Brooks joined the Whig party upon its organization in 1836 and was an enthusiastic supporter of William Henry Harrison, when he ran for President in that year and in 1840. Upon the organization of the Republi- can party, in 1856, he transferred his allegiance to this party and supported it until his death. He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church all his life and was always liberal in his support of the denomination. He also was a member of the Masonic order and was not only interested in the religious and moral life of his community, but every enterprise which was calculated to advance the interests of the community found in him a hearty and enthusiastic supporter. He was one of the county's most prom- inent citizens during his life time and was highly honored by everyone who knew him. He came to this county with no asset except that of strong hands and willing hearts on the part of the members of his family, yet he attained to a position of wealth, usefulness and honor. He lived to see his children take their places in society as useful members of the commonwealth, and greater honor than this can come to no man.

WILLIAM EVERETT CRAIG.

A distinguished veteran of the Civil War and one of the most substan- tial farmers of Hamilton county. Indiana, is William Everett Craig, who is now living a life of ease in the city of Noblesville. He was a soldier in the Civil War, serving for a period of four years and seven months in the Union cause, during which time he had many narrow escapes from death and passed through as varied a range of experiences as fell to the lot of many of the men who enrolled in the Northern army. The fifty years which have elapsed since the close of the war he has spent in agricultural pursuits, and with a degree of success which speaks well for his good management and industry.

William Everett Craig, the son of John and Susannah (Tucker ) Craig, was born June 16, 1840, in Franklin county, Indiana. His father was born in the state of New Jersey in 1809, and was the son of Aaron Craig and wife. John Craig came from New Jersey with his parents to Clermont county, Ohio. when he was a young man. Aaron Craig was one of the first settlers of Fall Creek township, Hamilton county, Indiana, although he spent his last days in Marion county, Indiana, near Germantown. Aaron Craig and his wife are buried in the Beaver cemetery in Fall Creek township in this county.

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John Craig grew to manhood in Franklin county, Indiana, and mar- ried Susannah Tucker, who was born near Mount Carmel in that county, and lived there until her marriage to Mr. Craig. In 1847 John Craig moved from Franklin county to Indianapolis, and for seven years was a contractor on railroad work in that vicinity. After the death of his wife on September 7, 1854, he moved back to Franklin county, and remained there until 1857, when he moved to Fall Creek township, in Hamilton county. His later days were spent in Wayne township, where his death occurred in August, 1883. By his first marriage to Susannah Tucker, there were born ten children : Isaac Newton, deceased; Amelia, deceased; John Wesley, of Indianapolis; Francis Marion, who died in 1911, at the age of seventy-three: William E., whose history is here recorded; Mary, deceased; Cassius W., who died in Indianapolis about 1908; Milton Augustus, who lives in the West; Cecelia Clementine. deceased, and Florence Walter, of Clarksville, Indiana. Some time after the death of his first wife, John Craig married Mrs. Eliza (Lewis) Fleming, at Brookville, Indiana, and to this second union eight children were born: Lewis, of Anderson, Indiana; Stephen Douglas, of Sheridan, Indi- ana: Mrs. Caroline Chalfant. of Middletown, Indiana: Laura, who died at the age of sixteen : Mrs. Nettie Barrett, who died at the age of twenty-one; Alta, who also died at the age of.twenty-one: Porter, of St. Joseph, Missouri; Clover, a girl who died at the age of twenty-four. The second wife of Mr. Craig and the mother of these eight children died in August. 1899. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the daughter of Aaron Lewis. At the age of four she was taken by her father's parents and reared at Thorn- town, Indiana. She married William Fleming. and by this first marriage was the mother of two children, Charles and Mary. Charles died at the age of nineteen, and Mary died at the age of nine months. Mr. Fleming died the day before Mary died, and the father and daughter were buried in the same grave.

William Everett Craig was seven years of age when his parents moved from Franklin county to Indianapolis in 1847, and consequently he received the most of his education in the public schools of that city. While living there he worked for two years as a newsboy on one of the trains running out of the city, and also worked two years in the Mansur Packing Company. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and then enlisted for service in the Civil War. He was mustered in on July 30, 1861, as a member of Company I, Twenty-sixth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years. He at once re-enlisted at Brownsville, Texas, on February 1. 1864. and served until his final discharge on January 15,

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1866, making a total of four years and seven months that he was in the service of his country.

Mr. Craig was first sent to St. Louis and assigned to the Army of the Frontier under General Fremont. This army was engaged south of the Missouri river and as far south as the state of Arkansas. He fought a number of small engagements and skirmishes and one hotly contested battle at Pea Ridge in Arkansas, and another one in the same state at Prairie Grove. At the latter battle on December 7, 1862, Mr. Craig received four gunshot wounds and one one-ounce shot which he still carries in his body. In this same battle he had one finger shot off and seventy-five per cent. of his company was killed and wounded in the fight. He was sent to the hospital at Fayetteville, and remained there until March, 1863. He was then trans- ferred from this hospital to the general hospital at Springfield, Missouri. His regiment was then ordered to Vicksburg and Mr. Craig, desiring to re- join it, escaped from the hospital and managed to catch up with his regiment, although he was hauled part of the way in an army wagon. He went with his regiment and from then on until July 4, when Vicksburg surrendered, he was in the midst of the fighting surrounding that city. In the summer of 1863 he took the typhoid-malarial fever, and for three months was incapaci- tated for service. His regiment was sent to Carrollton, a suburb on the northern edge of New Orleans, and from there was sent up the river to Morganza Bend. After a skirmish there his regiment was returned to New Orleans, where they remained until October, 1863. They then went across the Gulf of Mexico to Point Isabel, Texas, landed there and marched to Brownsville. He remained there until February, and on the first of that month, he was veteranized and got a thirty-day furlough, during which time he made a return trip to Indiana. At the end of the thirty days he rejoined his regiment at Ft. Butler and then was sent to New Orleans and was kept on provost guard duty for a time in Louisiana. Later he was detailed to heavy artillery duty at Fort Butler, ninety miles up the Mississippi river from New Orleans. While there he was detailed with nine other duty sergeants to go with Colonel John G. Clark, of Clarks Hill, Indiana, to Indiana and get re- cruits. They spent sixty days recruiting in Indiana, and then returned to Fort Butler, and did considerable scouting until the latter part of March, 1865. They then marched from New Orleans to Lake Ponchartrain, and took a vessel for Mobile. He was at the siege of Mobile until its capture on April 9, 1865, and was then sent to a number of places in Alabama and Mississippi. guarding government property. During their maneuvers in the (42)

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southern states he was with the regiment which captured Montgomery, Ala- bama, which was the first Confederate capital. They took three million dol- lars' worth of worthless Confederate money at Montgomery.

Mr. Craig was mustered into the service as a private, and was later made a first duty sergeant, and at Macon, Mississippi, was made an orderly sergeant. At Columbus, Mississippi, he was promoted and made second lieutenant of Company I, Twenty-sixth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, by Governor Baker, of Indiana. He was finally mustered out of the service at Vicksburg, on January 15, 1866. Immediately after his discharge from the army he returned to Hamilton county, and farmed in Wayne township, where he accumulated a farm of two hundred and forty acres, which he sold about three years ago. He also owned one hundred and two acres in Noblesville township, which he still retains. In 1892 Mr. Craig moved into Noblesville, where he is now living. He bought his first farm in 1877 in Wayne town- ship, a timbered tract of one hundred and sixty acres, which he cleared and put in a condition for tillage. As soon as he had this paid for he bought another eighty acres, and cleared about one-half of it, and then added one hundred and two acres in Noblesville township, which was the old home place of his wife's father. When he came out of the army, Mr. Craig farmed for two years and then went into a saw mill and lumber business at Clarksville, where he remained for five years. During this time he bought a house and lot and was married.

Mr. Craig was married New Years Day, 1871, to Elizabeth M. Forrer, a sister of Van B. Forrer, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume. To this union have been born four sons: Roland Vernon, Harry Victor, Frederick Virgil, and Cortland Everett. Roland Vernon was born Novem- ber 2, 1880, and died January 1, 1901. Harry Victor was born June 9, 1871, married Dora Butler, and lives at Roswell, New Mexico. He is an automobile salesman, and has one daughter, Lovice. Frederick Virgil, born March 2, 1877, lives at Bishop, California, where he is engaged in the real estate business. Cortland Everett, born May 27, 1890, is with his brother, Fred, at Bishop, California.

Mr. Craig and his family are all members of the Christian church. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, but has never been actively interested in political affairs. He is a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic Post at Noblesville, having been one of the charter members who helped to organize the post, which he has served as commander. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Haymakers.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 65

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

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