USA > Indiana > Hancock County > History of Hancock county, Indiana; its people, industries and institutions > Part 79
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and Kenneth Tyner. October 4. 1901, who is a high school student. Judge and Mrs. Mason and children are members of the Bradley Methodist Epis- copal church, the judge being a member of the board of trustees of the same. and are interested in all good works hereabout, being held in the highest regard throughout the entire community. Judge Mason is a Democrat and Lesides having been honored by the people of this county by the election to the bench of the Hancock circuit court has served as county attorney and as city attor- ney at various times. He is one of the directors of the bank at Mohawk, this county, and is regarded as one of Hancock county's most substantial and influential citizens. In his fraternal relations Judge Mason is affiliated with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men and takes an active part in the affairs of the local lodges of these several orders.
MRS. MARGARET I. BROOKS.
Mrs. Margaret I. Brooks, well-known and successful monument dealer. of. Greenfieldl, this county, widow of the late John H. Brooks, whose well- established business she has been carrying on since his death in 1913. has proved very conclusively that a woman may successfully engage in those par- ticular lines of endeavor in which one is accustomed to find only men engaged. Energetic, enterprising and progressive, there is no member of the Indiana Retail Monument Dealers' Association better known in that body than Mrs. Brooks, for she has held the office of secretary-treasurer in that body : and she is equally well known in the larger body of the National Retail Monu- ment Dealers' Association, in which she also has served as an officer.
Mrs. Brooks ( Margaret 1. Miller) was born on a farm twelve miles from Martinsville, in Morgan county, this state. December 27. 1874. daughter of John C. and Delila C. ( Whitaker ) Miller, both natives of that county. earnest and diligent members of their community and substantial farming people, who spent all their lives in that county and died within four days of each other, Mrs. Miller's death occurring on February 16, 1913, and that of Mr. Miller on February 20 of the same year. Mr. Miller being sixty-seven years of age at the time of his death and his wife, seventy-four. Mr. Miller was a Democrat and had held several township offices. He was a member of the Methodist church and his wife was a Baptist.
Margaret 1. Miller received her elementary education in the district schools in the neighborhood of her home, supplementing the same by a course in the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, after which she was
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engaged for four years as a teacher in her home county, teaching three years in the district school and one year in the graded school, and was thus engaged until the time of her marriage in 1898 to John H. Brooks.
John H. Brooks was born on a farm in the neighboring county of Rush on March 10, 1866, son of William and Mary ( Gates) Brooks, both natives of that county and well-to-do farming people, who later moved to Hancock county, where their last days were spent. The Gates family emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio and thence to Indiana, being among the early settlers of Rush county. John Gates, father of Mrs. Mary Brooks's father, was born in Pennsylvania, his father having been an officer in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, and took a prominent part in pioneer days in Rush county. To William Brooks and wife five children were born, of whom John H. Brooks was the youngest. William Brooks was a Republican and he and his wife were earnest members of the Friends church.
John H. Brooks was but a child when his parents moved from Rush county to Hancock county and was reared on the paternal farm in this county, receiving his early education in the district school. He then entered the State Normal School at Terre Haute and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1896. Previous to his graduation he had begun to teach school and for ten years was a teacher in the public schools of this state, principally in the schools of Hancock county. In June, 1898, Mr. Brooks bought the Joel B. Pusey monument works at Greenfield, a small concern, which he im- mediately began to enlarge and extend. He moved the plant to the north side of Main street, east, and later moved it to its present site on West Main street, where he had brought the concern to a flourishing state when death stopped his labors on March 1, 1913, less than two weeks after the death of Mrs. Brooks's parents. Upon the death of Mr. Brooks his widow continued the business and is still very successfully conducting the same. Mr. Brooks was a Republican, a birthright Quaker and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Improved Order of Red Men.
To John H. and Margaret F. ( Miller ) Brooks four children were born. Jessie Irene. Robert Miller, Sarah Eleanor and John Homer, all of whom are at school. Mrs. Brooks has a very pleasant home at 214 Wood street. Greenfield, and there she and her children are quite comfortably situated. She has some farm land, which she rents, and she has proved herself a very competent manager of the business which her husband left. Mrs. Brooks is a member of the Friends church and a member of the Clio Reading Club. a cultural organization of women of Greenfield, and in the affairs of both takes an earnest interest.
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HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA.
OSCAR HELLER, M. D.
Dr. Oscar Heller, one of the leading physicians of this section of the state, who has been engaged in the practice of his profession in this county since 1896, located at Greenfield since 1902, is a native son of Hancock county. having been born on a farm in Center township, two miles southeast of Greenfield, February 26, 1872, son of Alfred J. and Mary .\. ( Wirts ) Heller. the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio, who were prom- inent residents of the neighborhood in which Doctor Heller was born.
.Alfred J. Heller was but a boy when his parents moved from Pennsyl- vania to Indiana, the family settling in this county, and he grew to manhood here and continued a farmer all his life. He married Mary Wirts, who was horn in Ohio in 1833. and who was about ten years old when she came to this state, the family settling in this county in the early forties. After his mar- riage Alfred J. Heller established his home in Center township and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Heller was a Republican and was a member of the Masonic lodge at Greenfield. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and were highly regarded in their community. She died in 1877. at the age of forty-four years, and he survived until 1880. They were the parents of three children, sons all. Edward. a well- known farmer of this county: Oscar. the immediate subject of this biograph- ical sketch, and William H., who is connected with the Interurban Express Company at Indianapolis.
Oscar Heller was reared on the home farm and received his elementary education in district school No. 3. in Blue River township, following which he attended the high school at Perkinsville. He then for several years was engaged in farm labor on various farms in this county, and while thus engaged took up the study of medicine, with a view to becoming a physician. In 1893 he entered the office of Dr. J. M. Larimore at Greenfield and for three years was carefully drilled in the theory and practice of medicine by that able preceptor, at the end of which time, in 1896, he opened an office for the practice of his profession at Ridgeville and was there associated with Dr. B. F. Freeman for two years, at the end of which time he returned to Greenfield and was admitted to partnership with Doctor Larimore, his former preceptor, in the meantime having pursued his medical studies in the medical department of the Indiana State University, from which he was graduated in 1897, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The partnership between Doctor Heller and Doctor Larimore continued for about three years, since which time Doctor Heller has been practicing alone and has been very suc-
OSCAR HELLER, M. D.
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cessful, occuping a high position in the regard of his professional associates and the general public hereabout. Doctor Heller is a member of the Hancock County Medical Society and of the Indiana Medical Association, in the delib- erations of both of which bodies he takes a warm interest. He has served two terms as coroner of Hancock county, having been elected to that office on the Democratic ticket, and for four years was secretary of the county board of health, of which board he still is a member. He owns a fine farm in Center township, this county, and is regarded as one of the substanital citizens of Greenfield.
On June 9 1896. Dr. Oscar Heller was united in marriage to Victoria Dudding, who was born in this county on October 6. 1871, daughter of John C. and Nancy ( Tucker) Dudding. also natives of Hancock county, whose respective families had settled here in the early days, both families having come from Virginia, becoming prominent pioneer residents of this section. Doctor and Mrs. Heller take a proper part in the general social and cultural life of the community and are held in high esteem by their many friends here. Doctor Heller is a Scottish Rite Mason and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the Elks and of the Eagles, of the local lodge of which latter organization he is the past physician, and in the affairs of all these several organizations he takes an active interest.
HOLLIS B. THAYER.
In the memorial annals of Hancock county there are few names held in more grateful remembrance than that of the late Hollis B. Thayer, who for many years was one of the most active and influential figures in the com- mercial and social life of Greenfield. No less distinctly outlined in the memory of the passing generation hereabout is the figure of the late .Andrew T. Hart, former county treasurer and for many years one of Greenfiell's leading merchants, father-in-law of Mr. Thayer ; these two strong men having been for years associated together in business in Greenfield. after the death of Mr. Hart the business being continned by Mr. Thayer until the latter's death. Mr. Thayer's widow. daughter of Mr. Hart, is still living at Green- field. where she has a very pleasant home and where she enjoys many evi- dences of the high esteem in which she is held throughout the entire com- munity.
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HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA.
Hollis B. Thayer was a native of New Hampshire, born in the town of Keene, that state. September 24, 1833. When twenty years old he came into Indiana with the construction crew of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. at that time building the road through the eastern part of this state, and while thus engaged received his introduction to the town of Greenfield. Starting in as a common laborer in the railroad work, Mr. Thayer presently became superintendent of one of the departments of construction and was thus en- gaged until 1860, two years after his marriage. He then formed a partner- ship with his father-in-law. Andrew T. Ilart, in the general merchandise business at Greenfield, this mutually agreeable connection continuing until the death of Mr. Hart in 1888, after which Mr. Thayer continued the busi- ness as sole proprietor until his death on February 21, 1904, he then being seventy years of age. During his long connection with the commercial life of Greenfield and Hancock county, Hollis B. Thayer impressed his person- ality strongly upon this community. He was successful in his business, his diligence and enterprise having been duly rewarded. and at the time of his death was the owner of considerable valuable real estate in Greenfield. Mr. Thayer was a Republican and ever took a personal interest in measures look- ing to the perpetuation of good government, but never was included in the office-seeking class.
It was on April 5. 1858, at Greenfield, that Hollis B. Thayer was united in marriage to Permelia Ilart, who was born in Greenfield in December 5. 1839. danghter of Andrew T. and Gabriella (Sebastian) Hart, who were among the early residents of that city. Andrew T. Hart was a Virginian. born on July 7, 1811, who came to Indiana in an early day in the settlement of this section of the state and became, as noted above, one of the most ener- getic and influential citizens of Greenfield. Mr. Hart was twice married, his first wife, who was a Mrs. Folander, having died about two years after their marriage. He then married. secondly. Gabriella Sebastian, who was born in Kentucky on February 8, 1816, and who had come into Indiana with her parents, William Sebastian and wife, natives of Kentucky, the family locating in the then hamlet of Greenfield about 1830. William Sebastian entered a claim to a quarter of a section of "Congress land" in that neighborhood and was one of the real pioneers of Greenfield, in which place he for years con- ducted a tavern, during the old stage-coach days. He also operated a pioneer blacksmith shop and for years was postmaster of the village. Andrew T. Hart became one of the early merchants of Greenfield and was very successful in business. After his daughter's marriage to Hollis B. Thayer he formed a partnership with the latter and that partnership was continued until his death
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in 1888. he then being seventy-seven years of age. Mr. Hart was a Repub- lican and for years was one of the active leaders of that party in this county. For some years he served as county treasurer of Hancock county and in other ways rendered such service as he could in the public behalf. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and took a prominent part in good works in their day. Mrs. Hart survived her husband but two years, her death occurring in 1890, she then being seventy-four years of age. They were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Thayer was the first born.
To Hollis B. and Permelia (Sebastian) Thayer two children were born. Millie, born June 30, 1859, who died in her youth, and Edwin, born in Decem- ber, 1864, who makes his home in Greenfield, though his chief business inter- ests now are connected with a great irrigation preject in Arizona. Edwin Thayer married Minnie Ridpath, who was born in Greencastle, this state, and to this union two children have been born, George, a mining engineer. who married Bessie Walker and is now living in Arizona, and Roxie, who married Luther O. Eldridge, of California, and has one child, a daughter. Jeanne. Though now nearing the four-score stage of her life. Mrs. Thayer is hale and hearty and takes a keen zest in current affairs. She for many years has been an active member of the Bradley Methodist Episcopal church and still takes a warm interest in that congregation's various activities. Mrs. Thayer is a charter member of the locally influential Hesperian Club and con- tinues hier active interest in that organization. She has traveled widely and has made wise use of her opportunities.
THOMAS EDWIN GLASCOCK.
Thomas Edwin Glascock, of Greenfield, one of the best-known attorneys it the bar of the Hancock circuit court, is a native son of this county and a member of one of the old pioneer families of Hancock county. He was born on the farm which was entered as "Congress land" by his grandfather. Thomas Glascock, in the days of the establishment of a social order here- about, and which place is still in the family, his father. Lafayette Glascock. continuing to make his home there. Lafayette Glascock was born on August 9. 1848. and has made his home all his life on the farm where he was born. long having been regarded as one of the most substantial farmers and stock raisers in that part of the county. Lafayette Glascock married Eliza Olive Crane, who was born in that same neighborhood on January 29, 1853. and
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HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA.
who also is still living, hale and hearty for one of her years. Lafayette Glas- cock is a Democrat and has taken an active part in the political affairs of the county, though not an office-seeker. Ile and his wife are members of the Baptist church and their children were reared in that faith. There are four of these children, all still living, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow : Hector L., born on Angust 8. 1874. a farmer, now living at Greenfield: Albert J., born on January 12. 1878, and Myrtle Olive, born on October 12, 1885, who married Edward Panley and lives on a farm in Center township, this county.
Thomas E. Glascock was born on May 19. 1872, and was reared on the home farm in Center township. He received his elementary education in the Leamon's Corner school in the neighborhood of his home and when but a youth was licensed to teach school, but instead of availing himself of the license entered the high school at Greenfield, from which he was graduated in 1802. He then returned to the farm and for a year assisted his father in the work of the farm, after which he was engaged as a salesman for fruit trees, traveling throughout Indiana in the interest of a Michigan nursery. and was thus engaged for three years. In the meantime his thoughts had been turning to the subject of the law and he then entered the office of Mason & Jackson at Greenfickl and began the study of law under the direction of those able attorneys. Two years later, on the motion of Robert L. Mason. he was admitted to practice as a member of the bar of the Hancock circuit court and has ever since then been thus engaged at Greenfield, long having been recognized as one of the leading members of the bar. Following his admission, Mr. Glascock engaged in practice in association with Messrs. Mason & Jackson and this connection was continued for ten years, at the end of which time he opened an office for himself in the Randall building, at the corner of State and Main streets. After a few years spent at that location he moved to the Gates building and thence, after a time, to the Boots building, east of the court house, whence he moved to the Thayer building, at that time forming a partnership with Omer S. Jackson, and on September 1. 1915. moved to the M. C. Quigley buikling, where he is now located. Mr. Glascock is a Democrat and for three years served as county attorney.
On August 30, 1898. Thomas E. Glascock was united in marriage to Delphia Pearl Knight, who was born in Crawford county, Illinois, on July 7. 1879. and who came to Hancock county when a girl with her parents, the family locating in Greenfield, where Mr. Knight is still living, a well-known retired street contractor, and to this union two children have been born, Olive Josephine, born on June 1, 1899, and Joseph Lafayette, March 13. 1901. Mr.
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Glascock is a member of the Baptist church and Mrs. Glascock is a member of the Methodist church and take an earnest interest in the general bene- ficences of those churches. Mr. Glascock is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that organization.
PHILANDER COLLYER.
Philander Collyer, former county treasurer of Hancock county and a well-known retired farmer of Jackson township, now living at Greenfield, is a native son of this county, having been born on a farm in Brandywine town- ship. December 12, 1854, son of Wellington and Rebecca ( Liming) Collyer, both natives of Ohio, the former born on August 6, 1816, and the latter in February, 1821. Both Wellington Collyer and his wife had come to Han- cock county in their youth with their respective families and were married here. They settled on a farm in Brandywine township and there spent the remainder of their lives. Wellington Collyer was a Democrat and was prom- inent in the early councils of that party in this county. He had served as trustee of Brandywine township and in 1868 received his party's nomination for the office of county recorder. He and his wife were active working mem- bers of the Christian church. Wellington Collyer died in 1895, at the age of seventy-nine years, and his widow survived him but two years. her death occurring in 1897, she then being seventy-six years of age. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth in order of birth and all of whom are still living save two.
Philander Collyer was reared on the paternal farm in Brandywine town- ship, receiving his education in the common schools, and remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, after which he rented a farm in his home neighborhood and engaged in farming on his own account. He married in 1879 and continued living on his rented farm until 1894, in which year he bought a sixty-acre farm in Jackson township, later buying a tract of sixty- two acres adjoining and in 1913 bought another adjoining tract of twenty acres, thus being now the owner of a farm of one hundred and forty-two acres. Mr. Collyer is a Democrat and in the fall of 1908 was elected county treasurer on that party's ticket. He was re-elected in 1910 and thus served two terms in that office. In 1911 he moved from the farm to Greenfield. in which city he now makes his home, and since retiring from the farm has acted as the local representative of the R. L. Dolling Company, of Indianapolis.
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On October 15. 1879. Philander Collyer was united in marriage to Cynthia E. Furman, who was born in this county in 1858 and who died in 1907, leaving one daughter. Pearl, who is at home. On March 21, 1911, Mr. Collyer married, secondly, Mrs. Christina (Miller) Fink, who was born in Germany and who came to AAmerica with her parents when she was six years old, the family settling in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Collyer are members of the Christian church and Mr. Collyer is an office bearer in the same. Mr. Collyer is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar, a member of the blue lodge, the chapter and the commandery at Greenfield and of the council. Royal and Select Masters, at McCordsville, as well as a member of Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indian- apolis. He also is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. past noble grand of the lodge of that order at Charlottesville, and is a member of the Greenfield lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Knights of Pythias, in the affairs of all of which organizations he takes a warm interest.
JAMES MADISON LARIMORE, M. D.
Dr. James Madison Larimore, retired, who for many years was one of the best-known and most successful physicians in this part of the state, a prac- titioner in Ilancock county since 1877 and a resident physician of Greenfield since 1893. is a native Hoosier, having been born on a farm in the neigh- borhood of Eagle village, in Boone county, this state, June 12, 1843, son of Joseph and Mary ( McIntyre) Larimore, the former a native of North Car- ofina and the latter of southern Indiana.
Joseph Larimore was but a boy when his parents moved from North Carolina ; pushing on west until they reached the Madison neighborhood of Indiana, where, at Brooksburg, about eight miles above Madison, on the Ohio river. they settled. The Larimores had very little of this world's goods and they had pushed a hand cart carrying their small belongings all the way from their former home in North Carolina to their new home in Indiana, much of the labor of this difficult method of transportation falling upon the lad. Joseph. Upon locating in Indiana the elder Larimore and his son worked at what- ever their hands could find to do, the father being glad to work for twenty- five cents a day and the son for one-half that amount, taking their pay in bacon and such other provisions as passed current in the channels of trade in those days. the settlers of that period having mighty little, if any, money.
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Amid these conditions, Joseph Larimore grew to mmhood at Brooksburg and there he married Mary Melntyre, daughter of a pioneer, and immediately thereafter moved to Boone county, this state, that section of Indiana then being little better than wilderness, and bought a small farm in the vicinity of Eagle village, where the family lived until in 1856, in which year they moved over into Illinois and settled in Hancock county, where Joseph Lari- more bought a quarter of a section of land and established a new home and there he spent the rest of his life. his death occurring when he was about sixty-three years of age. His wife had preceded him to the grave some years before. Joseph Larimore was a Democrat and a member of the Masonic fraternity. He and his wife were members of the Christian church. They were the parents of five children, three of whom died in infancy and of the other two Doctor Larimore now is the only survivor, his brother, Thomas Jefferson, having died at the age of thirty-eight years.
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