USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 25
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UNA DORIS ADAMS.
One of the striking characteristics of the twentieth century is the advent of women into the professional field. It has not been many years since it was thought that housekeeping was the only occupation to which a woman might aspire, and yet today we find women in all of the learned professions. It does not follow that the entrance of women into the professional life means the loss of her womanly qualities in any way. Women have made the great- est inroads into the teaching profession and here may be found some of the brightest, keenest and most charming of the sisters of Eve. Indiana has been foremost among the states of the Union in opening her higher educa- tional institutions to women, the State University at Bloomington being the first university to open its doors to women on an equal footing with men. Since 1867, when the first woman entered the portals of Indiana University, there have gone forth thousands of well-trained young women who have be- come important factors in molding the life history of the state. More than a score of young women from Hendricks county have availed themselves of the opportunity to obtain a higher education, and among this number there is no one who has achieved more distinct success than has the present efficient superintendent of schools of North Salem.
Una Doris Adams was born in North Salem, the daughter of Thomas J. and Mary ( Fleece) Adams, whose histories are recorded elsewhere in this volume. She graduated from the North Salem high school in 1898 and then attended the Central Normal College at Danville for two years, after which
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she spent several years in teaching and in 1909 received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University at Bloomington. She had already done high school work before entering the State University, having taught at Rock Branch and North Salem. She also taught two years in the public schools of Newcastle, this state, before graduation at the university, and after her graduation she returned to Newcastle and taught one more year, then came to North Salem and became assistant superintendent of the public schools at that place, under the superintendency of Theodore F. Martin. The following year Professor Martin became the county superintendent of Hendricks county and she was elected superintendent of the schools, a position which she has been filling ever since. As a teacher. she combines both the proper educational qualifications and that tact and skill which are the necessary concomitants of every successful teacher. She is one of the very few women school superintendents in the state and it is a tribute to her ability that she is filling the position at North Salem in such a creditable manner. Miss Adams is a member of the Christian church and also belongs to the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star at North Salem.
MAJOR JOSEPH B. HOMAN.
A man who has gained more than ordinary success and whose record as a patriotic citizen and influential business man is recognized throughout the state is Joseph B. Homan, of Danville. Mr. Homan is a native of Hend- ricks county, Indiana, born in Washington township on September 16, 1838. the son of Aaron and Sibelena (Faucett ) Homan .. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio. The paternal grandfather, Fred Homan, and maternal grandfather, John Faucett, were both soldiers in the War of the Revolution. Aaron Homan came to Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1819, locating in Washington township, and in 1848 removed to Danville, where he lived until his death, which occurred at the age of eighty-five years. By occupation he was a mechanic and millwright. The mother of Major Homan died soon after removing to Danville, about 1849 or 1850. Aaron Homan then married Harriett Sandusky, who also is deceased. Aaron Homan was the father of eight children by his first marriage, three of whom are still living : Mrs. Mary J. Hadley, of St. Louis, Missouri, the widow of N. T. Hadley; John F., of Carroll county, Missouri, and Joseph B.
Joseph B. Homan received a common school education solely through
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his own efforts. His mother died when he was only twelve years old and he . was obliged to work for his board and tuition while attending school. On April 24, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, for the three-months service and from a private became pro- moted to the rank of a corporal. At the expiration of this term of enlist- ment, he went to Iowa and there enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served until after the battle of Shiloh, where he was severely wounded by an artillery horse running over him. He came home ' on a furlough after the accident and while home helped to recruit a company from Hendricks county and Marion county, which was made a part of the Ninety-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned captain of this company, which was mustered in as Company H. Afterward he was promoted to the rank of major and was finally mustered out as lieu- tenant-colonel, after serving three years and seven months. His company lost nineteen men in the battle of Shiloh. Among the engagements in which the subject participated during the war were the following: Phillippi, Laurel Hill, Carrick's Ford, Chattanooga, Dalton, Tunnel Hill, Mission Ridge, Graysville, Knoxville, Scottsboro, Brush Mountain, Nickajack Creek, Chatta- hoochee River, Decatur, Atlanta, Snake Creek Gap, Resaca, Kingston, in and about Dallas, Pumpkinvine Creek, Altoona, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain and Pine Mountain. Major Homan was captured at Atlanta and was in prison three or four months at Charleston, South Carolina, until exchanged at Rough and Ready, Georgia. At the close of the war, Major Homan came home and engaged in the dry goods business in Danville, although as a boy he had learned the carpenter's trade. He continued in the dry goods business from 1865 to 1873 in Danville and then organized the Danville Banking Company. He was manager of the institution from its organization until 1884. For many years he was a large feeder and shipper of cattle, making large shipments to Scotland. Since 1885 he has been engaged in the real estate and loan business with his son, Eustace W. Homan.
Major Homan was married in 1865 to Mary L. Ballard, of Greencastle, Indiana, and to this marriage there was born one son, Eustace W., above mentioned. Mr. Homan is a member of the Loyal Legion, and also an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He belongs to the order of Free and Accepted Masons and in all these fraternal organizations he takes an interested and active part. Religiously, he is a Methodist in belief and a liberal contributor to the support of this denomination. In politics he is an ardent Republican and has voted for every Republican that has been elected (18)
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President. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention which nominated Garfield in 1880, and he was also at Minneapolis when Benjamin · Harrison was re-nominated, and a member of the notification committee which went to the White House and notified General Harrison of his nomina- tion. He is now a member of the board of trustees of the Indiana Boys' School at Plainfield. Major Homan has lived to honorable ends and his admirable career has won for him the unqualified esteem of a host of friends.
JOHN HENRY BUNTEN.
The life of a farmer is one of comparative obscurity, yet such is the peculiar fitness of things that in no other station in life do we find men of sounder character and stronger principles than in the environment of the farm. Surrounded by nature, the farmer's life is one which offers fewer temptations and more facilities for developing strength than does the arti- ficial life of the cities. And, as in the last analysis, it is character which counts, so in the end the life of an honest, upright farmer, like Mr. Bunten, may outweigh the life of a man who occupied a much larger place in the eyes of the world.
John Henry Bunten, of North Salem, was born in Marion township, Hendricks county, Indiana, on February 24, 1850, his father being a native of Mercer county, Kentucky, and his mother of Randolph county, North Carolina. Henry Harvey Bunten was born in 1818 and was the son of William and Leanna (Wilson) Bunten. When Henry Harvey Bunten was a young man he and his parents came to Marion township, this county, from Kentucky, and here William Bunten entered government land and lived the remainder of his life as a farmer. He was married to Frances Robbins, who was born in 1819, the daughter of William and Leah (Lamb) Robbins. She was a small girl when her parents left North Carolina in wagons to make the long trip across the Blue Ridge mountains and the Ohio river valley to this county, where the family entered government land in Marion township. Henry H. Bunten and Frances Robbins were married when they were both very young and lived the simple life of farmers all their lives, he dying in 1898, and his wife two years later. Henry H. Bunten was county com- missioner of Hendricks county at one time, and, with his wife, was a life-long member of the Christian church, in which he was a deacon and elder for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Harvey Bunten were the parents of nine chil-
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dren, eight of whom grew to maturity. At the present time three daughters and John H., whose history is here presented, are the only living children of this marriage.
John Henry Bunten was reared on the home farm and upon reaching manhood was given the management of the home place. He and his sister, Sarah E., stayed at home, caring for their parents until their death. Sarah E. is now the wife of William I. Gill, whose career is portrayed elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Bunten was married April 28, 1904, to Mrs. Pearl D. (Hadley) Duncan, the widow of Elmer Duncan, and the daughter of James and Jennie (Fleece) Hadley. James Hadley was born in 1847 in Marion township, this county, and was the son of Edmond R. and Sarah S. (Ragan) Hadley. Edmond R. Hadley was born in North Carolina, the son of James C. and Mary (Richardson) Hadley. When Edmond R. was a small boy, his parents came to Hendricks county, Indiana, and located southwest of Danville, where James C. entered government land. On this farm James C. Hadley lived and died, a life-long farmer and stock raiser. Edmond R. Hadley grew up on the farm and married Sarah S. Ragan, who was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, the daughter of Abner and - -- (McCown) Ragan. She came to this county in early childhood with her parents, who first settled in Put- nam county, but later came to Hendricks county. After Edmond R. Had- ley's marriage he was given a farm of forty acres by his father in Marion township, this county, and as the years went by he added to this until he had seven hundred acres of fine farming land at the time of his death in 1875. Edmond R. Hadley and wife were the parents of eight children, two of whom died in childhood. Three or four years before his death Mr. Hadley bought a farm in Eel River township, and here he remained for the rest of his life. James Hadley, the father of Mrs. J. H. Bunten, was married October 25, 1871, to Louisa J. Fleece, a native of Eel River township and the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Davis) Fleece. John Fleece was a child when he came to this county with his parents. Elizabeth Davis was born in this county and was a sister of Walter Davis, the father of Quincy A. Davis, whose family history is given elsewhere in this volume. Since his marriage James A. Hadley has followed farming pursuits in Eel River township, and for the past thirty-four years he has lived in North Salem. In 1901 he sold all of his land but twenty acres, which adjoins North Salem. He owns a threshing and shredding outfit and still engages in that business. Mr. Had- ley is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order
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of Odd Fellows, while he and his wife are both members of the Christian church.
Mrs. Bunten was born in Eel River township, this county, and in 1891 married Elmer C. Duncan, the son of George H. and Nancy ( Davis) Dun- can. For two years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Duncan lived in this county, then went to Colorado, where they remained for the next seven years. At the time of his marriage, Mr. Duncan assisted his father in a tile factory, but upon his removal to Colorado he engaged in gardening and fruit raising. He died in June, 1900, at the age of thirty-three years, leaving his widow with one son, Glenn D. After Mr. Duncan's death his widow came back to the home of her parents and lived with them until her marriage to Mr. Bunten.
After Mr. Bunten's marriage he built his present home in North Salem, and lived there for about four years. He then returned to the farm, but two years later moved back to North Salem and now rents his farm out. He is the owner of one hundred acres of fine farming land and also has the management of forty acres adjoining, which belong to his sister.
Mr. Bunten is a stanch Republican in his political views but has never been a blind partisan in defense of his party. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and he and his wife are both members of the Order of the Eastern Star. Religiously, their affiliation is with the Christian church, to which they give their earnest and zealous support. Mr. Bunten is a man in whom everyone reposes the utmost confidence, for his word is to him a sacred obligation and he has always been ready to assist in every good work and help those in need. He has a wide acquaintance throughout the northern part of this county, and is highly respected by all of those with whom he has come in contact and who know him personally.
DR. THOMAS J. ADAMS.
Among the men of the past generations who have been influential factors in the life of Hendricks county, the late Dr. Thomas J. Adams occupied a prominent place. Doctor Adams was born September 22, 1837, in Center township, near Danville, and died at North Salem, this county, March 13, 1908. He was the son of Solomon and Nancy (Griffiths) Adams. Solomon Adams was a native of Nicholas county, Kentucky, and in the twenties of the last century came to Switzerland county, Indiana, where he married.
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After his marriage he came to Hendricks county, where he was one of the leading pioneers.
Thomas J. Adams received an academic education at the old Thorntown Academy in Boone county and began the study of medicine with Doctor Lockhart, of Danville, as his preceptor. For several years before the war he taught school in Tipton, Boone and Hendricks counties and on January 2, 1864, he enlisted at Danville in Company I, Ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, for three years. He served until he was honorably dis- charged in 1865. the close of the war. On the organization of his regiment he was appointed hospital steward and served in that capacity throughout the remainder of his service. During six months of this time he acted as sur- geon, his superior officer being absent from the regiment. His regiment took part in many heavy skirmishes on Hood's campaign, being in the battles of Columbia, Franklin, Nashville and many others. Doctor Adams helped to care for the wounded. At the battle of Nashville, he remained behind several days to help gather up the wounded and send them to hospitals.
After the close of the war Doctor Adams returned to this county and at once entered Rush Medical College in Chicago, from which he graduated in 1870. However, in the meantime he had been practicing at North Salem, beginning in March, 1866, after he had had one term at the medical college. After graduation he started to practice at North Salem and was more than usually successful. He was a member of the county, state and national medical societies and had a large medical library.
Doctor Adams was married in April, 1867, to Mary A. Fleece, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Davis) Fleece. John Fleece was born in Boyle county, Kentucky, the son of Charles and Mary (Harlan) Fleece. In 1836 the Fleece family came to Hendricks county and settled in Eel River township. Elizabeth Davis was born near Mt. Sterling, Montgomery county, Kentucky, and was the daughter of Nathan and Nancy (Kidd) Davis. She was about fourteen years of age when her parents came to this county and located northeast of North Salem, where they entered government land. While Mrs. Davis was still a small girl, her parents moved to Ladoga, where the father engaged in the general merchandise business for sixteen years. Then they moved to North Salem, and after the war her father moved to James- town, where he again engaged in the mercantile business until his death, about fifteen years later. While living in Ladoga he served as township trustee.
Doctor Adams continued his practice in North Salem and vicinity until two or three years before his death, when a stroke of paralysis necessitated
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him giving up his practice. He died in North Salem, March 13, 1908. Doctor and Mrs. Adams were the parents of seven children: Galen, Una and Herbert are still living with their mother at North Salem; Beulah is the wife of Dr. C. M. Trotter, a dentist of North Salem, with one son, Richard; Percy died at the age of twenty; Herman died when he was about six years of age; Ernest, the youngest child, is a graduate pharmacist of Purdue Uni- versity.
Doctor Adams was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Grand Army of Republic, and held official positions in both. He was one of those strong, sturdy individuals who have contributed largely to the material welfare of this county and was a public-spirited citizen who always stood for the best interests of his community. For a long term of years he was active in promoting the community's progress along social and moral lines, and consequently his name will long be remembered for his potent influence for good in this county.
E. E. BLAIR.
Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Hendricks county within the pages of this volume, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality and whose interests have been identified with every phase of progress, each contributing in his sphere of action to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. Among this number is E. E. Blair, who, as a private citizen and public official in his home township, has won the esteem of his fellow citizens because of his blameless private life and his efficient public service. Some men in each community are the natural leaders in public affairs and among this number is Mr. Blair, whose training has rendered him peculiarly adapted to public service.
E. E. Blair, ex-trustee of Washington township and successful farmer, was born October 13, 1865, in the township where he has lived the most of his life. His parents were Clark and Marium Blair, who were highly re- spected citizens of the community in which they lived.
Mr. Blair received his common school education in his home schools and then entered Purdue University at Lafayette, Indiana, where he took an agri- cultural course of one year, then returning to his father's farm, remained
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there and assisted his father until he moved on to his present farm in 1895, He purchased it from the Walter Ross heirs and has improved this tract in many ways by erecting new buildings and draining and fencing it in a way to increase its value materially. While he raises all of the crops peculiar to this section of the state, he has made a specialty of hog raising and has been uniformly successful along this line. In his farming methods he has kept abreast of the times and keeps well informed upon the latest agricultural methods so that he may keep his farm to the highest state of efficiency. He is interested in all of the farmers' institutes and special short courses for farmers, feeling that these are things in which the farmer cannot make a mistake.
Mr. Blair was married, in 1887, to Jennie Barker, the daughter of William and Louisa Barker, of Avon, this county. Mrs. Blair was born June 7, 1868, in Avon and received her education in the schools of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are the parents of seven children: Nola, born July 10, 1888; Earl H., born July 21, 1891 ; Bessie, born December 29, 1892; Eddie E., born December 29, 1894; Everett C., born July 10, 1896; Russell B., born March 21, 1898, and Helen G., born January 23, 1900. All these children are still under the parental roof and are being given the best educational ad- vantages by their parents.
Mr. Blair has always taken an active interest in Republican politics and in 1895 was selected by his party to make the race for township trustee and that he was elected to that important office shows the esteem in which he is held by the citizens of his township. He responded to their confidence in him by rendering to them and to the township faithful and efficient service while in the capacity of a trustee. He interested himself in the township schools, roads and everything which came within his jurisdiction.
Mr. Blair has spent his whole life in the township of his nativity with the exception of a short time in the West, when he spent about a year on a ranch in Indian territory and another year with a contracting firm in Kansas City, Missouri.
Fraternally, Mr. Blair is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Bridgeport, Indiana, and is actively interested in the affairs of his local lodge. In every avenue of life's activities he has performed his full part and because of his genuine worth and high character he has enjoyed to a large degree the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens.
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CHARLES A. WHITE, M. D.
No other profession has accomplished, during the last century, the prog- ress and development that have been made by the medical. The man of original thought and action, whose text-book forms but the basis of future work, has ever moved forward, taking advantage of and utilizing new dis- coveries in the science and looking always for better methods and surer means to the desired end. Such a man is he whose name heads this review. In considering the character and career of this eminent member of the medical fraternity, the impartial observer will not only be disposed to rank him among the leading members of his profession in his locality, but also as one of those men of broad character, culture and mental ken who have terrible struggles of the Civil war, his whole career has been replete with honor and success. He has been actuated by the highest motives, and to the practice of his profession he has brought rare skill and resource, his quick perception and almost intuitive judgment enabling him to make a correct diagnosis. He has always been a close student of medical science, keeping in intimate touch with the latest advances along that line, and he has for this reason kept thoroughly abreast of the times.
Dr. Charles A. White, one of the oldest practitioners in Hendricks county, was born in Canton, Washington county, Indiana, January 4, 1845. His parents, Maxamillian and Martha (Miles) White, removed to Hendricks county in the fall of 1850 and located in Liberty township, about two miles south of Belleville, then the largest town in the county.
Doctor White was only five years of age when his parents came to this county. He was given a good common school education and at the age when most boys of today are in school, he enlisted in the local military company which was being raised in his county. Although he was only sixteen years of age when the Civil War opened, his excess of patriotic zeal made up for his lack of years, and as soon as the opportunity offered itself he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served out his term of enlistment. As soon as he came back from the front he began the study of medicine in the office of Drs. R. C. Moore and L. H. Kennedy at Belleville and later enrolled as a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago. He was compelled to borrow the money with which to pay his school expenses, and for this he paid twelve per cent. compound interest. In the spring of 1868 he began the practice of medicine near Bloomington, Indiana, but remained there only about a year. On March
Charles& White
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15, 1869, he formed a partnership with Dr. John Dancer at South Milford, Indiana, which was dissolved two years later. While located at South Mil- ford, Doctor White took a second course of lectures at Rush Medical College and graduated as valedictorian of his class on February 1, 1871. In the following April he located at Wolcottville, Indiana, in partnership with Doc- tor Dancer and was rapidly building up a good practice when sickness in the family necessitated a change. His partnership with Doctor Dancer closed on April 1, 1873, and he at once moved to Danville, near their former home. He next went into practice in Danville with Dr. Henry G. Todd and they continued together from January 1, 1874, until March 1, 1877, when they agreed to dissolve. Doctor White then united with Dr. Wilson T. Lawson and they practiced together until October, 1879, since which time Doctor White has practiced alone.
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