History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 99

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

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Thomas J. Lindley was married November 28, 1867, to Harriett J. Blair, of Henry county, Indiana, who was born August 18, 1849, the daughter of Archibald and Susannah Blair. To this union have been born five chil- dren, Aaron Archibald, born October 24, 1868; Georgiana, born November 9. 1869 : Laura Lee, born June 30, 1874; Mabel Clare, born August 10, 1876; and Thomas Blair, born March 3. 1890. Aaron Archibald married Lena Louise Schoettle in August, 1899, and to them have been born three children, Louise, Aaron Thomas and Lawrence. The mother of these children died shortly after the birth of the third child and her husband later married Lula Nash. To this second union, one son, William Nash, has been born. Georgiana married Arthur Lyndon Kittredge, of Dayton, Ohio, August 26, 1903, and to this union two children have been born. Thomas Arthur, born

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January 20, 1905, and Mary Harriett, born September 28, 1908. The father of these children died two weeks after the birth of the second child, October 14. 1908. Mabel Clare married Homer H. Beals, June 7, 1905 and to this union two children have been born, Thomas Lindley Elwood, born June 11, 1907, and Lyndon, born October 16. 1910. Thomas B., the youngest child of his parents, was married to Edna Wheeler. December 31, 1913, and on January 10, 1915, a son, Thomas Joseph, was born to them.

Thomas J. Lindley had the benefit of a common-school education which he supplemented with a course of one year at Adrian College in Michigan. He was a student at the outbreak of the Civil War and upon returning home enlisted at the organization of the Fifty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry in Company H, October 19. 1861. After nearly two years of service he was discharged on account of failing health. He taught school the following winter and in the spring of 1864 enlisted for one hun- dred days in the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was chosen color bearer of the regiment and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of service with the regiment. He taught school again during the succeeding winter and in the following March, 1865, he once more enlisted for one year in the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served in this regiment in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. until the close of the war. He was mustered out with the regiment at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in August, 1865, at which time he held a lieutenant's commission.

Returning home, Mr. Lindley resumed his occupation of farming, his physical condition being such that he was not able to resume his studies in school, and in 1868 he was nominated by the Republican party to the office of sheriff and was elected with more than thirteen hundred majority. In the year 1869 during Mr. Lindley's term of office as sheriff an event occurred. a record of which is worth preserving in the history of the county. One morning upon reaching his office at the court house sheriff Lindley was met by Thomas J. Kane, an attorney at the bar, who handed him the following telegram: "A party of Kentucky rebels are aboard the train with a Union man under arrest charged with murder during the war. Have sheriff with posse at train. (Signed) C. Richardson and Stephen Lowly." The train was about due and there was no time to be wasted. not even time to procure some arms. So hastily summoning a few deputies from among the by- standers, the sheriff, with his little posse, started on a run and bareheaded for the station. Arriving there the train was already approaching and Messrs. Richardson and Lowly of Tipton. who had sent the telegram, were leaning

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from the car steps anxiously watching to see if their appeal had been in vain. When the train stopped the sheriff requested the conductor to hold his train a minute. Richardson headed the posse as guide. Leading to a place about midway of the car he pointed out the prisoner, who sat beside his wife and a great big man of near two hundred and seventy-five pounds weight on the same seat.

Sheriff Lindley addressed the prisoner, saying, "I am the sheriff of Hamilton county. I want you to come with me." "What do you want with him?" inquired the large man on the seat. Lindley answered, "I want to take him before the court and have you establish the identity of your prisoner and see that you do not take the wrong man out of the state." The large man answered, "He's not going." To this Lindley replied, "He is. going," at the same time seizing the prisoner by the coat collar. Instantly the whole car was in a tumult, though Lindley clung to his man. Upon reaching the platform with his most willing prisoner safe in hand some one called out, "Look out, Lindley : he's going to shoot," meaning the big man, who was upon the point of shooting the sheriff in the back. At that moment Elisha Mills, auditor of the county, hit the big man on the side of the head with a stone. The sheriff took the prisoner, whose name was Moses Ray, to a blacksmith shop and had his handcuffs cut off and set him free. He and his wife were doubtless, for the time, the happiest couple in the county. Those members of the posse who were most active in assisting in the rescue and who showed that they had the genuine grit were Elisha Mill, auditor of the county, who was a veteran of the Seventy-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteers; Frank A. Hawkins, a veteran who had been shot to pieces and lay unattended upon the field of Gettysburg for several days: Thomas J. Kane and Joseph R. Gray, attorneys; J. Joseph, and others whose names the biographer does not now recall. It should be mentioned that Hon. Joel Stafford, who was judge pro tem. of the local court did not shirk his duty as a patriot by hiding in his judicial ermine, but rolled up his sleeves and was in the thick of the fight. The sheriff's posse cleaned up a good collection of revolvers and bowie knives which the Kentucky gang neglected to call for when they made their precipitated flight for their "Ol' Kentucky Home."

This is without doubt the last battle of the Civil War between Union and Rebel forces in which a good man's life was saved and all the blood that was shed came from the veins of the rebels.

At the expiration of his term of office Mr. Lindley returned to the farm and applied himself diligently to his business with a large degree of success.

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In 1878 he was nominated and elected a member of the lower house of the State Legislature to represent Hamilton county. His services were obviously satisfactory to his constituents, for in 1880 he was re-nominated and re- elected. In 1890 the Hamilton county delegation gave him a solid vote for fifty-one consecutive ballots for the nomination for Congress in the Repub- lican convention. The choice, however, went to another party who has since left the Republican party and become a Progressive. In 1900 Mr. Lindley was chosen to represent Hamilton and Tipton counties in the State Senate, and was one of the leaders in the Indiana General Assembly during this term. He served on many important committees and his counsel and influence were sought upon all important measures.

Mr. Lindley has a birthright in the Quaker church, but he married a young woman who was a Methodist and after his marriage cast his lot with the Methodist church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and for sixteen years served as presiding officer over the lodge to which he is attached. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. Although seventy-one years of age, he still retains great interest in his business as a farmer, a vocation which he believes is bound to grow in importance year by year, furnishing the best opportunities for young men, who will shake themselves free from bad habits and apply themselves diligently to this business. The active life which Mr. Lindley has led in the army and before the public has thrown him in contact with all classes of men. Yet he has persistently refused to be led into such habits as the use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco, the latter of which he believes is almost as bad as the former.

Thomas J. Lindley is one of the most highly respected and one of the best known citizens in Hamilton county. His long life in public service, in- cluding his many public duties well done, has earned for him the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, a confidence which he today enjoys to the very highest degree.

EDWIN M. HINSHAW.

The life of the eminent and successful business man, though filled to re- pletion with activity and incident, presents fewer salient features to excite the interest of the general rader than the man whose place in the public eye has been won through political or military achievement. But to acquire dis- tinction in the business pursuits which give to the country its financial strength and credit requires ability of as high if not higher order than that which leads to victory at the polls or on the field of battle. This will be readily ap-

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preciated by all who tread the busy thoroughfares of trade. Eminent busi- ness talent is composed of a combination of high mental and moral attributes. It is not simply energy and industry ; there must be sound judgment, breadth . of capacity, rapidity of thought, justice and firmness, the foresight to per- ceive the course of the drifting tides of business and the will and ability to control them, and, withal, a collection of minor but important qualities to regulate the details of the pursuits which engage attention. The subject of this review affords an exemplification of this talent, and notwithstanding the limited theater of his operations, he has achieved a reputation which places him among the successful financiers of Indiana's capital city.

Edwin M. Hinshaw, of Indianapolis, was born on a farm near West- field, Hamilton county, Indiana, August 13, 1870. He is the son of Solomon and Elizabeth (Beals) Hinshaw, the former a native of the state of North Carolina, and the latter of near Westfield, Hamilton county, Indiana. Solo- mon Hinshaw came to Hamilton county in 1862, settling near Westfield on a farm. He has lived on one farm for thirty-nine years. He is one of the highly esteemed citizens of Hamilton county, prominent in the Friends church, of which he was for many years one of the overseers. He is a son of Michael Hinshaw, a native of Chatham county, North Carolina, where he lived and died. Solomon Hinshaw married Elizabeth Beals, daughter of ex-Commis- sioner John Beals, one of the venerable and highly respected citizens of Ham- ilton county, now in his eighty-sixth year. Three children were born to Solomon and Elizabeth (Beals) Hinshaw. Ella is the wife of John Briles, a farmer living near Westfield, Hamilton county, Indiana, on the old John Beals farm. Edwin M., the immediate subject of this sketch, is the second child in order of birth. J. L. Hinshaw is a resident of Cicero, Indiana.

Edwin M. Hinshaw was reared as a farmer boy, and his boyhood days gained to him through personal experience an appreciation of the dignity and value of honest toil. His rise to a position of definite success has not been one marked by apathy or sybaritic ease, for he has been significantly the archi- tect of his own fortunes, and has builded the ladder on which he has risen to higher things. As a boy he attended school at old Grassy branch schoolhouse, one of the famous Hamilton county schools. Here he pursued his studies un- til twelve years of age, at which time he became a scholar at Union High academy at Westfield. His aptitude for learning gained for him a diploma from the common school branches after only eight weeks of study at this in- stitution. His graduation from the high school of the academy was pre- vented by the illness of his father. From the time he was fourteen until he was nineteen years of age he worked on the farm, receiving his due quota of

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the generous beneficences that ever comes to those who are thus given the privilege of closely touching gracious nature "in her visible forms," the while he waxed strong in mind and body under the discipline involved, learning the lessons of industry, self-reliance and sturdy integrity that have proved so. potent in guiding his career as a man. In 1889 Mr. Hinshaw entered the em- ploy of the Bank of Westfield as bookkeeper, and here he was engaged for a period of five years, learning the rudiments of business and gaining a knowledge of banking that proved valuable in later years. On September 24, 1894, in partnership with T. E. Beals, until recently president of the First National Bank of Noblesville, Indiana, Mr. Hinshaw opened the Bank of Cicero, but his connection with this bank was severed in 1903, when he was appointed state bank examiner, a position he held for nearly eight years, his commission being approved by three governors-Governor Durbin, Governor Hanly and Governor Marshall. His record as bank examiner was creditable alike to his state and to his own fidelity and discrimination, and he was gen- erally conceded to be one of the most thorough, painstaking and efficient of- ficials who ever served the state in like capacity. Mr. Hinshaw was vice- president of the First National Bank of Noblesville, resigned and became in- strumental in the organization of the Indiana State Bank of Indianapolis, which opened its doors November 12, 1912, and served as president of this bank until June, 1914, since which time he has devoted his time to his numer- ous business interests, the bank being recognized as one of the sound and conservative financial institutions of the state. Its rapid growth and notable success are due in no small measure to the executive ability and business acu- men of Mr. Hinshaw, who, in the capacity of president, necessarily carried the burden of responsibility.

Edwin M. Hinshaw was married in 1895 to Miss Olive Clark, daughter of Caleb Clark, of Hamilton county, Indiana. To them came one son, Clark Hinshaw, born January 16, 1901, on which date the wife and mother was called by death. On August 5, 1910, Mr. Hinshaw was married to Miss Frances Fortner, of Indianapolis, daughter of Capt. Alfred Fortner, who was captain of the Eighth Indiana Cavalry during our Civil War, and member of the firm of Fortner, Floyd & Co., one of the well-known wholesale no- tion firms of Indianapolis. Mrs. Hinshaw died without issue July 21, 1912. Mr. Hinshaw and his son Clark reside at 1654 College avenue, Indianapolis. Fraternally, Mr. Hinshaw is a Mason, Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman. Politically, he is a Republican, and he holds membership in the Commercial club of Indianapolis.

Edwin M. Hinshaw's entire career has been characterized, not only by

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impregnable integrity of purpose, but also by energy, persistence and close application, and to his own well-directed efforts is due the success which he has attained and which places him among the essentially representative busi- ness men of the Indiana capital. A man of exemplary habits, he has con- served his energies and devoted himself to things worth while. As a former Hamilton county boy, who, to use the expressive phrase, has "made good," this brief resume of his successful career will be especially gratifying to his boyhood friends of his native county.

HENRY C. MABREY.

A farmer and business man of Washington township, Hamilton county, Indiana, who has made a marked success in life, is Henry C. Mabrey. He has spent his entire life thus far in the township where he was born. Be- ginning in life with a suit of cotton clothes and 50 cents in cash, he has ac- cumulated a very comfortable competence, while at the same time he has taken an active part in the life of his community. He has always made it a point to look ahead and see how an investment would come out. He is a large stockholder in various banks in his county and has exercised excellent judgment and foresight in his investments. As a farmer he has given the most of his attention to the raising of hogs, while he has also dealt extensively in the buying and selling of live stock and real estate. He has made it a prac- tice to confine his operations to matters with which he is familiar and thor- oughly understands. His whole business career has been characterized by good and careful management and thorough knowledge of every venture into which he entered. He believes that one should seek the line of endeavor to which his desires and natural ability lead him.

Henry C. Mabrey, the son of Willis and Polly (Pew) Mabrey, was born in Washington township, Hamilton county, Indiana, in 1858. His parents were both natives of Guilford county, North Carolina, his father's birth oc- curring in 1824, and his mother's in 1823. They were married in North Carolina, and in about 1851 came by wagon from North Carolina to Hamilton county, Indiana, and located in Washington township. For about ten years Willis Mabrey rented land in this county, and then bought a farm one and one-half miles east of Jolietville, and there made his permanent home. He was a life-long farmer, a member, with his family, of the United Brethren church, and a citizen who was highly respected in his community. Willis Mabrey and wife were the parents of seven children, three of whom are now

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living : George W., of Sheridan; Alfred C., of Jolietville, and Henry C. The father of these children died June 12, 1902, and the mother on August 16, 1881.

Henry C. Mabrey was reared on his father's farm in Washington town- ship. He received a good common school education, and after his marriage he started in farming one mile north and two miles east of Jolietville, and one year later moved to a farm one-half mile north of Jolietville, where he has since lived, he and his wife starting in with a farm of fifty acres at the time of their marriage. They have since added to their holdings until they now own one hundred and fifty acres. They have not invested in land, but, rather, in bank and insurance stock, deeming this to be more remunerative. They have built the second house with slate roof on their farm. This house has a large concrete porch and is surrounded by beautiful grounds. It con- tains sixteen rooms, is thoroughly modern, with hot and cold cistern water. acetylene lighting plant, furnace and every convenience which can be obtained. Besides the two residences on his farm, he owns real estate in Jolietville, now occupied by the telephone exchange. He is president of the Farmers National Bank of Sheridan, a bank with a capital and surplus of $100,000. He is also a heavy stockholder in the First National Bank of Sheridan, a stockholder in the First National Bank of Noblesville, and has a large amount of stock in the Sterling Fire Insurance Company of Indianapolis and the Lexington Life Insurance Company, of Lebanon, Indiana. Mr. Mabrey has held only one official position, which was that of county drainage commissioner, holding this position for five years, beginning in 1901.

Mr. Mabrey was married January 1, 1880, to Hulda J. Fouch, who was born in Washington township, this county, and is the daughter of John P. and Anna (Coppock) Fouch. To this union have been born two children, Fred J. and Pearl L. Fred J. graduated from Indiana university in 1906 and during the summer of 1914 was in attendance at Columbia university, New York City. He has taught school several years, starting in as a teacher in the district schools of his county, and after two years spent in the rural dis- tricts became the principal of three different schools. In 1909 he took a posi- tion with the United States government as a member of the geological sur- vey and spent two years in the employ of the government. He then accepted the chair of history and mathematics in the Frankfort, Indiana, high school, and taught there two years. In the fall of 1913 he took charge of the high school at Industry, Illinois. In the fall of 1914, he took charge of the high school at Genessee, Illinois, where he has eleven teachers under his charge. Fred Mabrey was married in June, 1913, to Blanche Barnett, of Frankfort. who was a teacher in the high school at that city at the time of

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her marriage. Pearl L. Mabrey, the.other child of Mr. and Mrs. Mabrey, was married March 16, 1909, to Berney Spaugh, and they live two miles south of Jolietville on a farm, which they own. They have one daughter, Maxine Lucile, a beautiful little child, who has taken first prize in two different baby shows. Mrs. Spaugh is a graduate of the Westfield high school.

Mrs. Mabrey's parents were natives of Kentucky and Ohio, respectively. John P. Fouch was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, April 5, 1826, and was the son of Daniel and Catherine (Wilson) Fouch, also natives of the same state. The ancestors of the Fouch family were French, while the Wil- sons were of Irish ancestry. Anna Coppock, the mother of Mrs. Mabrey, is the daughter of Isaac and Eliza (Richardson) Coppock, natives of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Fouch were the parents of seven children, among whom are James, Mary A., John and Hulda J., the wife of Mr. Mabrey.

Mrs. Fouch, mother of Mrs. Mabrey, died in May, 1866. John P. Fouch, father of Mrs. Mabrey, enlisted in the Civil War in August, 1862, in Com- pany K, Sixty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was a valiant soldier, who served his country until the end of the war and received his hon- orable discharge. Mr. Fouch died on March 24, 1895.

GEORGE W. SCOTT.

There is no profession in which more good can be accomplished than in the teaching profession, and the man who is an able instructor of the youth is performing as useful a function as a man in any other profession. Horace Mann said many years ago, "The common schools are the hope of our country," and no truer statement was ever made. It is education that will bring about the millennium in this country, and for this reason the public- school teachers of our land are the most important civilizing agents that we have. The career of George W. Scott in Hamilton county is replete with work well done, and in his threefold capacity as a private citizen, school teacher and public official, he has played an important part in the life of this county.

George W. Scott, the son of John L. and Mary (McGrew) Scott, was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, January 7, 1852. John .L. Scott was born in Virginia, and his wife in Ohio. At the age of sixteen John L. Scott came to Wayne county, Indiana, and lived with his brother-in-law, Richard Hearst, remaining with him until he was twenty-one years of age. He then came to Hamilton county, settled on a farm and in this county he and

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his wife reared their family of children. He died in 1864 and his widow survived him many years, not passing away until 1885. To John L. Scott and wife were born ten children, seven of whom are still living: Andrew C., William L., Charles M., Mrs. Melissa Presnall, Mrs. Malinda Newby, Mrs. Lucy Clevenger, and George W.

George W. Scott was educated in the schools of his home neighborhood and later became a student of Butler College, at Indianapolis. Desiring to secure the best possible education in order to qualify as a teacher, he entered a university at Chicago, from which institution he was graduated. After completing his college course, Mr. Scott returned to this county and has spent practically all of his life in the school room, having taught for fourteen years in Sheridan. In fact, he has taught for the past forty-two years with the exception of four years when he was trustee of Clay township, and during his present incumbency as trustee of Adams township, which office he will hold until 1916. During his long career as a teacher in this county he established a high reputation as an instructor and as a mentor of the youth of the county. His record in the school room makes him peculiarly well qualified for the arduous duties of the township trusteeship, and in this capacity he is still doing everything possible for the schools of his township. Few men in the county have been longer or more intimately connected with school work than Mr. Scott, and none have given it more conscientious service.

Mr. Scott was married August 30, 1876, to Allie E. Harvey, whose parents were natives of Wayne county, Indiana. To Mr. Scott and wife have been born two children, Mae J. and Joyce O. Mae J. was born May 30, 1883, and is the wife of Gregg Timmons, a druggist of Sheridan; Joyce O. was born November 24, 1894, and is the wife of O. B. Mace, a stockman of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Mace have two children, Mary Alice and Edwin Scott.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 99

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

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