History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 75

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

USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 75

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Mr. Hanson was married the second time on February 2, 1876, at West Newton, Marion county, Indiana, to Elizabeth Mendenhall, who was born in Hamilton county. Indiana, near Hinkle Creek Friends church, the daughter of Jesse and Phoebe Mendenhall. Her death occurred November 29, 1904, four daughters, Grace, Blanche, Mayme and Elsie being left to mourn the

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loss of their mother. Blanche is the wife of Earl Kirkman, and lives on her father's farm near Gray. She has three children, Ernest, Ward and Julia. Mayme is the wife of Raymond Hinshaw, and lives near Thorntown on a farm. She has two children, Helen and Caroline. Grace has been teaching school for the past fourteen years and is now teaching in the schools of Sheridan, Indiana. Elsie married Hollis Royster and died at Frankfort, Indiana, December 16, 1910, within six months after her marriage,

On August 8, 1906, Mr. Hanson was married to Mary Emma Newsom, who was born near Azalia. Bartholomew county, Indiana, the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Newsom. When she was about seven years of age her parents moved to Coatesville, Hendricks county, Indiana, and seven years later, moved to Indianapolis, where her father was engaged in the commis- sion business for about five years. At the end of that time her father became a missionary to the Indians in Indian Territory and left for that field in 1872.

About this time Mrs. Hanson went to Bartholomew county, Indiana, to an academy to finish her schooling. Her father, however, was taken ill and she had to give up her intended college course. In nursing her father she became interested in professional nursing and has had all the training and experience to qualify for a trained nurse, although she never took the exam- ination for a diploma. For twenty years before her marriage to Mr. Hanson she was engaged in professional nursing, and while following her occupation at the home of a friend of Mr. Hanson in Kokomo she first met him. Mrs. Hanson's mother was Elizabeth Hollowell. After Mrs. Hanson left the academy in Bartholomew county she became a teacher missionary with her father in Indian Territory and remained there seven years. Her father was one of the founders of the Colored Orphans' Home in Indianapolis. Mrs. Hanson was reared in an atmosphere of humanitarianism and helpfulness, and throughout her life has taken a deep interest in that line of educational work.

The public career of Mr. Hanson has been of a very active nature. In 1882 he was elected to the State Legislature of Indiana on the Republican ticket. and two years later helped to organize the Prohibition party in Indi- ana, from 1888 to 1890 being the district chairman of that party. In 1890 he was the Prohibition candidate for Congress in his district, and in 1896, after the party divided at Pittsburg over the Free Silver issue, he re-united with the Republican party, and made speeches all over Hamilton county advocating the election of Mckinley. He voted for Roosevelt in 1912, but voted for the largest part of the Republican county ticket, and helped to nominate it. He is a notary public and is a trustee of the State Anti-Saloon

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League. He called the county convention which was organized in the fall of 1909, and which finally resulted in making Hamilton county "dry" by a twenty-four hundred majority.

In March, 1900, Mr. Hanson moved from his farm near Gray, to West- field, where he has since resided. He and his wife have long been members of the Friends church and active workers in its cause. Such, in brief, is the history of a man who has been a credit to the county where he has lived so many years. He is the kind of a man who is a valuable asset to any com- munity.

DR. ZERI H. FODREA.

The entire career of Dr. Zeri H. Fodrea, a prominent physician of Westfield, Hamilton county, Indiana, has been spent within the limits of this county. The Fodrea family was one of the many families to come to Hamilton county, Indiana, from North Carolina, leaving the state of their birth on account of their hatred of slavery. Doctor Fodrea has spent his whole life in the immediate vicinity of his present place of residence, and by his upright life and the character of the service which he has rendered his fellow citizens. he is universally respected and esteemed. For the past quarter of a century, he has been engaged in the active practice of his pro- fession at Westfield and no physician of the county has met with more pro- nounced success.

Dr. Zeri H. Fodrea, son of David and Tamer (Davis) Fodrea, was born June 3, 1856, two miles north of Westfield. His parents were both born in North Carolina, and his father came when a small lad to Indiana with his mother, locating in Hamilton county, about 1840. David Fodrea grew to manhood in this county and married Tamer Davis, the daughter of Benjamin and Ruth Davis, natives also of North Carolina. David Fodrea was a man of much prominence in his community, and was a leader of the Abolitionists and a warm friend of temperance. He and his family were active workers in the Friends church, and contributed in every way to the advancement of the community where they settled. David Fodrea died in 1887 and his wife lived until 1907. Eight children were born to David Fodrea and wife, six of whom are living: Benjamin D. and Alfred H., of Indianapolis : Levi P., of Noblesville: Mary M .. the widow of John L. Moore, of Westfield : Rebecca, the wife of Eli Kane, of Kansas, and Dr. Z. H., with

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whom this narrative deals. Hannah died in childhood, and one other child died in infancy.

Doctor Fodrea was given a good common school education and later graduated from the high school at Westfield. He then entered Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana, and after leaving Earlham, he attended the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he took the medical course. He graduated in the spring of 1888, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

After graduating from the University of Michigan, Doctor Fodrea had charge of the Westfield schools for the following year, 1888-89. On July 1, 1889, he began the active practice of his profession at Westfield. and for the past twenty-five years has devoted his full time and attention to this noble profession. In addition to taking an active part in the various medical associations of which he is a member, he is prominently identified with the various community interests which are found in his locality.

Doctor Fodrea has never married. He belongs to the Friends church, and has always given it his unreserved support. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and has attained to all the degrees including the thirty- second, being a member of the Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis. In addition to his Masonic affiliations Doctor Fodrea also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias at Westfield.

GEORGE W. OSBORN.

There are individuals in nearly every community who, by reason of pro- nounced ability and force of character. rise above the heads of the masses and command the unbounded esteem of their fellow men. Characterized by perseverance and a directing spirit, two virtues that never fail, such men always make their presence felt and the vigor of their strong personalities serves as a stimulus and incentive to the young and rising generation. To this energetic and enterprising class George W. Osborn very properly be- longs. Mr. Osborn has devoted himself to his adopted profession and to the public duties to which he has been called, and, because of his personal worth and his accomplishments, he is clearly entitled to representation among the enterprising and progressive men of his locality. Mr. Osborn is an efficiently trained lawyer and has the background of a practical education, having taken the five-year literary and law course offered by the Indiana State University at Bloomington. Since engaging in the practice of his pro-

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fession in his home county he has rapidly forged to the front and in the fall of 1912 was elected prosecuting attorney for this county, assuming this office January 1, 1913.

George W. Osborn, the son of David S. and Hannah ( Roberts) Osborn, was born October 20, 1879, on a farm in Marion county, Indiana. Both of his parents were born in Marion county, his grandfather, John Osborn, being born in Virginia in 1771. John Osborn was one of the earliest pioneers of Marion county, Indiana, where he died in 1875, having reached the unusual age of more than one hundred years. Jacob Roberts, the father of Hannah Roberts, mother of George W. Osborn, was born in Ohio county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1800 and was one of the early pioneers of Marion county. His father, John Roberts, entered nine hundred and sixty acres of land in Marion county near the city of Indianapolis. Both families were prominent in the early history of Marion county and among the most substantial citizens of the county. David Osborn and his family moved from Marion county to Hamilton county in 1882, settling on a farm in Clay township, where David Osborn engaged in farming until his death February 26, 1894, his wife dying August 31. 1904 .. David Osborn was a Democrat in politics and a man who was always interested in the welfare of his community, being a citizen who stood high in the estimation of his fellowmen. He and his wife were both loyal members of the German Lutheran church.

George W. Osborn was about three years of age when his parents moved from Marion county to Hamilton county and since that time he has been a continuous resident of this county. He attended the schools of his home township and later was graduated from the Zionsville high school with the class of 1901. He at once entered Indiana University and took the combined literary and law course, graduating from that institution on June 20, 1906. He was admitted to the practice of law in January, 1907, and on February 4 of that year he opened his office for practice in Sheridan in this county. His ability as a lawyer is widely recognized and during the years he has been identified with the legal history of this county he has been connected with many of the most important cases tried in the local court. His learning, capacity, aptitude and persistency are readily recognized and his friends prophesy that he will be favored with many additional honors in the future. He has an unblemished record, having always been upright and honorable in all his relations with his fellow men and has set a worthy example of the public-spirited, honest, energetic and wholesome citizen whom the public de- light to reward and honor. Affiliated with the Democratic party he has been

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active in its councils in this county and has been honored by this party on several occasions. He has been town attorney for the corporation of Sheridan for several years and in the summer of 1912 was nominated by his party for the office of prosecuting attorney of Hamilton county. He was elected in November, 1912, to this office and assumed its duties January 1, 1913. Because he has an earnest and conscientious desire to apply his legal knowledge impartially he has gained the confidence and respect of the attor- neys of the county as well as of the public he has served in his capacity of state's attorney. He is always master of himself in the trial of cases and is rarely not at his desk. He is courteous and deferential to the court and kind and forbearing to his opponents. As a speaker he is direct, logical and not in- frequently, truly eloquent. He is not only an able and reliable counselor of jurisprudence, but his honesty is unimpeachable and his official career has been animated only by those lofty motives which should actuate every good American citizen.

Mr. Osborn was married December 23, 1908, to Bessie S. Kercheval, the daughter of Robert G. and Anna (Davis) Kercheval of Sheridan, and to this union have been born two sons, John R. and George W., Jr. The wife and mother died March 29, 1913. She was an amiable woman of pleasing personality and her kindly deeds and loving ministrations will be long remem- bered by those with whom she was associated. Mr. Osborn is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Improved · Order of Red Men. In his church affiliations he is an earnest member of the Christian church. He is one of those strong, sturdy men who are a positive benefit to their community and consequently his name well deserves a place in the record of Hamilton county's representative citizens.

JOSEPH AUGUSTUS BROOKS.

The whole career of Joseph Augustus Brooks has been spent in Fall Creek township, Hamilton county, Indiana, where he was born fifty-six years ago. As a farmer he has been one of the most successful men of the county, as is attested by his fine farm of two hundred and seventy-four acres in this county. Mr. Brooks and his wife have reared two children, who have become useful members of society. They have given both of them a high school and university training and have the satisfaction of knowing that they are amply able to provide for themselves. Mr. Brooks is a hos-

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pitable, genial and popular citizen, who has never failed to give his support to the best measures affecting his community's welfare.

Joseph Augustus Brooks, familiarly known as "Gus" Brooks, was born March 5, 1858, in the township where he is now residing. He is the son of Madison and Mary Jane ( Hurlock) Brooks. His father was a life-long farmer in this county and died May 28, 1909. His mother is still living.

Joseph A. Brooks was reared in Fall Creek township, on his father's farm and lived there until his marriage. He then moved on the farm in the western part of Fall Creek township, where he is now living, and for the past thirty-five years has been actively engaged in general farming and stock raising. He has a beautiful country home, surrounded by spacious and well- kept grounds. His barns are large and commodious and bespeak the in- dustry, as well as the taste of the owner. He has erected all of the buildings on his farm and placed upon it all of the improvements which now make it one of the most attractive places in the county.

Mr. Brooks was married October 2, 1879, to Clara Fisher, who was born May 10, 1861. in this county, the daughter of John and Ellen (Steffy) Fisher. John Fisher and his wife were both natives of Pennsylvania, of German ancestry. John Fisher came to this county with his father, George Fisher, and his wife came here with her parents from Pennsylvania. Ellen Steffy used to tell of an interesting incident in her girlhood when a veritable "rain" of stars was witnessed in the community in which she was living. The people were so powerfully impressed by the phenomenon that they thought that the world was coming to an end. George Steffy, the father of Ellen, was a cabinet maker and made his home at Clarksville.

Joseph A. Brooks and wife are the parents of three children. The first- born, Ernest, was born June 29, 1880, and died six months later ; Earl, born March 23. 1883, graduated from the Noblesville high school, and then spent two years in Indiana University, after which he entered the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis, and graduated in 1907, and has since been practicing dentistry in Noblesville. His biography appears elsewhere in this volume. Lola Ellen, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, was born September 28, 1892. graduated from the Noblesville high school in 1900, and from Indiana University in the spring of 1914. She is now teaching domestic science and English at the Bremen, Indiana, high school.

Mr. Brooks is a Republican and a member of the Knights of Pythias and he and his wife and daughter are consistent members of the Christian church. His son belongs to the Methodist Episcopal denomination.

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EDWARD FRANKLIN KLEPFER.

The "Sunnymeade Farm" of Edward F. Klepfer, which is located in Fall Creek township. Hamilton county. Indiana, is recognized as one of the best improved farms in Hamilton county. Mr. Klepfer is a man of broad education. He and his wife taught school both before and after their mar- riage. For ten years Mr. Klepfer taught school in this county, and five years of this time he and his wife taught together, and at the same time they farmed during the summer seasons. They are both descended from sterling families who have left their impress upon the communities in which they resided. The lives of Mr. and Mrs. Klepfer have been a blessing to the community in which they have lived so many years.

Edward Franklin Klepfer. the son of Noah and Elizabeth (Pickel) Klepfer, was born March 10, 1857, in Marion county, Indiana, near Oak- landon. His father was born in Chester county. Pennsylvania, June 28, 1832, and was the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Swarm) Klepfer. Noah Klepfer was about four years of age when his parents moved from Penn- sylvania. to Wayne county, Indiana, and he came with them to Marion county when they moved there a short time later. In Marion county Noah Klepfer grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Pickel. She was born in Ohio, September 11. 1829. and is now enjoying good health at the advanced age of eighty-five. She still reads without glasses, has an excellent memory, and is able to do her housework. She came with her parents to Marion county, Indiana, when a child.

After Noah Klepfer was married he farmed for about seven years in Marion county, where his father had entered a large tract of government land. In 1859 Noah Klepfer bought the farm his father had entered in Fall Creek township. in Hamilton county. This tract of eighty acres was covered with forest trees with the exception of about two acres, and had no house or buildings of any kind on it. When Noah Klepfer and his wife moved there in 1859 they started to clear their land and Mr. Klepfer sold some of the best hardwood logs for twenty-five cents apiece. On this farm he made his home until his death, April 1, 1914, being nearly eighty-two years of age at the time of his death. Noah Klepfer was always interested in public affairs and was often called upon by his neighbors to perform public services in various capacities. At one time the law provided for a township road superintendent in each township, and he held this office for several years. He was frequently called upon to appraise real estate, locate ditches, . administer estates, and give advice of a general legal nature. In fact, he

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was the Nestor of his community, being a man who was regarded as ex- ceptionally well qualified to perform all kinds of executive and administrative work. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and deeply interested in the work of that fraternal organization. Two sons were born to Noah Klepfer and wife: Nelson Wallace, who was born May 9, 1854, died on his farm in this county in 1900. The other son, Edward Franklin, is the immediate subject of this review.

Edward F. Klepfer was about two years of age when his parents moved from Marion county to Hamilton county, Indiana. He received such educa- tion as was afforded by the district schools of his day and remained on the home farm until his marriage. Before his marriage, however, he had begun to teach school, and having spent two years in the Union high school at West- field. he had no difficulty in qualifying as a teacher. He began teaching at the old Young school house in Fall Creek township, where as a lad he had attended his first school at the age of eight. Later he taught nearer home, at the Klepfer school house, for four years. After his marriage in 1885 he and his wife taught together at Cicero for one year, and for a short time Mr. Klepfer engaged in the livery business in that city. His wife's parents, however, were getting old and asked Mr. Klepfer and his wife to come and live with them on their farm near Madison, Indiana, and went there and Mr. Klepfer farmed in the summer and taught for five years during the winter seasons in Hamilton county. Altogether he taught ten years, his last term being in the old school house where he taught his first year. When he stop- ped teaching he rented a farm near his old home place for two years and then bought eighty acres on which he has since lived a short distance west of his boyhood home. He has added to his original farm from time to time until he now has one hundred and fifty-five acres, while his wife owns eighty acres in the same neighborhood. He has two sets of farm buildings on his land and his wife's farm is also well equipped. He is a breeder of pure- bred Percheron horses and finds a ready sale for all that he cares to dispose of.

Mr. Klepfer was married June 3, 1885, to Lucile R. Rogers, who was a native of Switzerland county, Indiana, and was reared in Jefferson county, near Madison, the daughter of Stephen and Rebecca ( Manford) Rogers. Her father was an extensive farmer and at one time owned several hundred acres of land in southern Indiana. In 1860 Stephen Rogers and his brother invested heavily in land along the Ohio river, but financial reverses caused him to lose over forty thousand dollars on his investment. Mrs. Klepfer is

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a sister of Mrs. Eli Brooks, whose biography elsewhere in this volume gives the family history of the Rogers family.

Mr. and Mrs. Klepfer have no children, their only child, Harry, dying in early infancy. Both are loyal and earnest members of the United Brethren church, and give it their hearty support at all times. Politically, he gives his allegiance to the Democratic party. Mr. Klepfer is an ambitious, diligent and industrious man, and one of those citizens of whom any community should be proud. He is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens and is frequently called upon to administer estates and perform matters of executive nature.

MARTIN VAN BUREN FORRER.

One of the notably useful men of Hamilton county, Indiana, is Martin Van Buren Forrer, whose whole career has been spent within the limits of this county. For eighteen years he was a public school teacher of this county, and during that time gave his best efforts towards making good citizens out of the young people whom he taught. That he succeeded well is shown by the fact that he is held in high esteem by those whom he instructed, a tribute not only to his excellence as a teacher, but to his high character as a man. For the past twelve years he has been a rural mail carrier, while at the same time he has given his careful attention to his fine farm in Wayne township. He is the kind of a public-spirited citizen who stands for the best ideas in government, religion, education and morality, and his life has been but the reflex of his own high ideals.

Martin Van Buren Forrer, the son of Martin and Eliza (Heiny) Forrer, was born May 4, 1859, in Noblesville township, Hamilton county, Indiana. His parents were both born in Pennsylvania, and after their marriage moved to the northeastern part of Ohio, and located for a short time near the cities of Orville and Massillon. About 1850 they came to Indiana and located in Noblesville township, Hamilton county, where they spent the remainder of their lives, with the exception of about six years spent in Clarksville, Indiana. Martin Forrer was a life-long farmer and died in his ninetieth year in October, 1904. His wife died in October, 1909, at the advanced age of ninety-one. Four sons and two daughters were born to Martin Forrer and wife: John, Catherine, Elizabeth, Christopher, Daniel and Martin Van Buren.

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The education of Martin Van Buren Forrer was received in the district schools of Hamilton county and Holbroke Normal College, at Lebanon, Ohio. At the age of twenty-one he began teaching in the public schools of his county, and for eighteen consecutive years he taught in the various schools of the county. He then spent one winter in Florida for his health, and while in that state, also taught during the winter season. On his return to Hamilton county, he again resumed teaching and taught for four years. During his long service as a teacher he had saved his money and invested it in land, and in 1898 he retired from the school room and devoted all of his attention to farming. In 1902 he was appointed rural-route mail carrier on Route 10, a substation of Noblesville, which was established at that time in Clarksville. He has now been carrying the mail out of Clarksville for the past twelve years, and with his automobile he makes the route of twenty- six miles in two hours and twenty minutes.

Mr. Forrer has a very attractive farm and since acquiring it has put . practically all of the improvements now on the place. Only one of the build- ings on the farm remains as it was when he purchased it. He has concrete walks around his house and barn, concrete fence posts, and all of his im- provements are of the most permanent and substantial character. Before the rural route was established, Mr. Forrer was the postmaster at Clarksville.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 75

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

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