USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 27
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ing audiences and this fact is probably the real cause of his remarkable suc- cess on the block.
Mr. Figg was married November 23, 1913, to Mrs. Ada B. (Smith) Thompson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. McKindry Smith. Mr. Figg is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias and has had the honor of holding every chair in the subordinate lodge of that fraternal order. He is familiarly known throughout the county as "Colonel," and his optimistic disposition and genial manner with his friends have made him one of the best known and best liked men in the county. His sterling uprightness in all of his business transactions through the many years in which he has been engaged in business has won for him the unlimited confidence and regard of all those with whom he has had business relations. The world has too few men who shed sunshine around them, and were there more such men as Colonel Figg the world would be brighter and happier.
SAMUEL B. ENSMINGER.
The men most influential in promoting the advancement of society and in giving character to the times in which they live are two classes, to-wit, the men of study and the men of action. Whether we are more indebted for the improvement of the age to the one class or the other is a question of honest difference of opinion. Neither class can be spared and both should be encouraged to occupy their several spheres of labor and influence, zealously and without mutual distrust. In the following paragraphs are briefly out- lined the leading facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman who combines in his makeup the elements of the scholar and the energy of the public-spirited man of affairs. Devoted to the noble and humane work of teaching, he has made his influence felt in the school life of Hendricks county, Indiana, and is not unknown to the wider educational circles of the state, occupying as he does a prominent place in his profession and standing high in the esteem of educators in other than his own particular field of en- deavor.
Samuel B. Ensminger, one of the oldest teachers of Hendricks county, Indiana, was born August 3, 1849, on a farm in Center township, this county, one mile northeast of Danville. His parents were Samuel J. and Mary Ann (Megee) Ensminger, his father being a native of Maryland and
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his mother of Kentucky. Samuel J. Ensminger came to Hendricks county, Indiana, when a young man and taught school in Crawfordsville, Montgomery county, Indiana, for a short time, and then came to Danville, where he followed the same profession. Upon the discovery of gold, in California, in 1849, he was seized with the same fever which actuated thousands of other men and went to that state, where he remained for the next twenty-two years. While in California he followed the occupation of a miner most of the time and made his headquarters at Placerville. In 1871 he came back to Indi- ana and later went to Tennessee, where he died at Murfreesboro, at the age of sixty-three years. His wife died December 29, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Ensminger were the parents of five children: Melville C., de- ceased; one who died in infancy; Henry B., deceased, who was a soldier in the One Hundred Seventeenth Indiana Regiment and later in the One Hundred Forty-Eighth Regiment; Marshall L., deceased, and Samuel B .. the immediate subject of this sketch, who is the youngest of this family and the only one now living.
Samuel B. Ensminger was born on August 3, 1849, and, as his father left in May of that year for California, and did not return until 1871, he was past twenty-one years of age before he ever saw his father. He received a good education in the public schools of his county and later took a course in the academy at Danville. Being of a studious turn of mind, he was in- clined toward the teaching profession and for nineteen years taught school in Center township, this county. During all of these years he farmed in the summer months and was equally successful in both occupations. His joint income from his farming operations and his teaching enabled him to in- crease his land holdings until he has become one of the most substantial farm- ers of his township. He eventually retired from the teaching profession and devoted all of his time to his agricultural interests, and continued to operate his farm until 1910, when he sold his farm and removed to Dan- ville to spend the remainder of his days.
Mr. Ensminger was married October 26, 1876, to Amanda Worrell, daughter of William and Martha (Wilson) Worrell. She was born in Washington township, this county. Her father was a farmer who came from Virginia. He was a great man for church and upright living; was often administrator and guardian. He had a family of thirteen children, of whom Mrs. Ensminger was the youngest. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ensminger : Charlotte E.,. wife of Vernon Rudd, who works in the First National Bank of Danville, and Frederick DeWitt, an attorney
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of Danville, but now with the Prest-O-Lite Company, of Indianapolis. Fred- erick is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Mr. Ensminger is allied with the Republican party and has served his party on more than one occasion in conventions. He has been the assessor of Center township and for five years and three months was trustee of the same township. He has also been ditch commissioner for Hendricks county. In all of his official work he proved to be an efficient and faithful administra- tor of the duties which he was called upon to perform. The Ensminger family are all members of the Presbyterian church of Danville and take an active interest in the various organizations of that denomination. Fra- ternally, Mr. Ensminger is a member of the Knights of Pythias of his home town. He is a jovial gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, and one who makes friends with all classes of people. In his capacity as a public official he was one of the most popular men who ever held office in Hen- dricks county. He is very widely known throughout the county, and has a large circle of warm friends, who esteem him for his record as a teacher and as a public official. It is probable there is no one, not even the minister, who comes as close in touch with the life of the community as does the school teacher, and in the nineteen years in which he taught in his home town- ship he was brought closely in touch with life in all its phases. He has always been a practical and methodical man, as all members of the teaching profession usually are, has never known such a thing as idleness, and it can truly be said that he has been one of the most potent factors for good in the community in which he has spent so many of his years.
THOMAS C. ROSE.
The race of life is like a horse race; if one is properly started with suitable grooming, such as a good education and proper home training, he will lead in the race in after years and enjoy every moment of existence. Such home influences were thrown around Thomas C. Rose in his early years. Both father and mother were people of intelligence, religious instincts and high ideals, and their son has endeavored to uphold the honor of the family during his entire career, and Marion township has no more highly respected citizen or industrious farmer. As a gallant veteran of the Civil War he well merits an honored place in the history of this county.
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Thomas C. Rose, a retired veteran of the Civil War, now living in North Salem, was born in Marion township, this county, in 1840, and has spent nearly seventy-five years within the limits of this county. He is the son of Lewis A. and Flora (Vannice) Rose. Lewis A. Rose was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, in 1801, the son of Charles and Mary (Reese) Rose. Charles Rose was born October 6, 1778, and his wife, Mary Reese, was born February 4, 1779. Lewis A. Rose married Flora Vannice August II, 1825, and to this union were born ten children. About the year 1827 Lewis A. Rose and family came to Indiana and settled in Marion township, this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Lewis and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church, and at his death he owned two hundred and forty acres of land in Marion township. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis A. Rose were the parents of nine children. Two of the boys, Lewis and James, died in the Civil War, and another, Charles, died in his boyhood days Thomas C., whose history is herein portrayed, is the only one of the six sons who is living.
Thomas C. Rose stayed on the home farm until the opening of the Civil War and in 1861 enlisted in Company A, Fifty-first Regiment Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and participated in various battles in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. He was mustered out in 1863, because of ill health, being almost to- tally disabled at the time of his discharge. After regaining his health, he mar- ried Mary C. Clay in 1866. She was born in Putnam county, Indiana, and was the daughter of James Henry and Susan (Fleece) Clay.
After his marriage, Mr. Rose farmed for one year on his father's place and then came to Eel River township where he began operations on his own farm of one hundred and seventy acres, and continued to reside there until about 1900, when he moved into North Salem and retired from active work. He now rents his farm, but gives it his careful oversight.
Mr. and Mrs. Rose have one son, Webster C., who was born in 1877. He is married and is engaged in the poultry business in the state of Oregon. Mr. Rose has always been a very careful business man and has accumulated his competence through his own individual efforts. He has carried forward to careful completion whatever he undertook and his business methods have always been in strict concomitance with the standard ethics of business life. His career presents a notable example of those qualities of mind and char- acter which overcome obstacles and win success, and his example is eminently worthy of imitation by the coming generation.
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FREDERICK NEWTON WRIGHT, M. D.
The art of healing has been practiced from the beginning of time and today there is no profession which offers more chance and better opportunities for alleviation of human suffering than does the medical profession. It is literally true that the physicians of this country hold its life in their hands, and the conscientious physician is he who does his duty the most scientifically and with the greatest sympathy. It is now an acknowledged fact that there is a therapeutic value in the hand clasp and in the smile of the physician and the most successful physician is he who successfully combines a magnetic smile with his healing drugs.
Frederick Newton Wright was born on June 22, 1878, in Indianapolis, . Indiana, and is a son of Levi and Louisa (Martin) Wright. Levi Wright was a native of Salem, Washington county, Indiana, where he was born in 1834. His boyhood days were spent in that county at Salem, and on reach- ing manhood he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and followed this noble profession until his death on July 4, 1891. For many years he preached at Ben Davis, and helped to build the church in that place. His wife was also a native of Washington county, Indiana, and is now living in Hazelwood, Hendricks county, Indiana, having remarried after her hus- band's death. Mr. and Mrs. Levi Wright were the parents of five children : Dr. Francis Marion Wright, of Indianapolis; William L., of Indianapolis; Edwin Miles, who lives at Kokomo, Indiana; Arthur L., of Indianapolis. and Dr. Frederick N., of Hazelwood.
Frederick N. Wright spent his boyhood days in the city of Indianapolis and finished the common school course and later graduated from Shortridge high school in that city. He then entered the medical department of Indiana University, graduating in the spring of 1905, and immediately located at Hazelwood, Hendricks county, Indiana, for practice, and in the nine years which he has spent here in the active practice of his profession, he has built up a large and lucrative patronage. Doctor Wright has the necessary opti- mistic disposition which should be a part of every successful physician's equip- ment and this, coupled with his undoubted technical training, makes him one of the best physicians of the county.
Politically, Doctor Wright is a Progressive, but on account of his large practice he has not had time to take any prominent part in the game of politics. He and E. V. Milhon helped to install the Improved Order of Red
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Men in Hazelwood. He and his wife are both members of the Baptist church at Hazelwood.
Dr. Frederick Wright was married on May 28, 1905, to Mamie May, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Watts) Adams, who were natives of Washington county, Indiana.
Doctor Wright is a genial man and makes friends easily because of his frank, open-hearted manner. He has a high standing in his community and is regarded as one of the coming physicians of this section of the state.
JUDGE THOMAS J. COFER.
The life history of him whose name heads this sketch has been for many years closely identified with the history of Hendricks county, Indiana. Throughout the years his life has been one of untiring activity and it has been crowned with a degree of professional success attained by comparatively few who aspire to eminence in their chosen calling. Years of conscientious work as a lawyer have brought with them not only increase of practice and reputation, but also that growth in legal knowledge and that wide and ac- curate judgment the possession of which constitutes marked excellence in the profession. By a straightforward, honorable course Mr. Cofer built up a large and lucrative legal business and, financially, has been proportionately successful. His life affords a splendid example of what an American youth, plentifully endowed with good common sense, energy and determination, can accomplish when accompanied by good moral principles. He achieved a splendid record at the bar at an age when most men are merely starting out on their life work, for, from the beginning, he was intensely methodical and unswervingly persistent in search of the true light and of the essentials of the legal foundation and sources of legal conception and thought, holding devoutly to the highly embellished record of equity and the sure, certain, in- vincible methods of practice. Therefore, success could not help crowning his efforts and attracting to him public recognition and appreciation.
Judge Thomas J. Cofer, lawyer, old soldier, public-spirited citizen and a friend of every one in Hendricks county, was born September 2, 1836, three and one-half miles north of Danville, this county. His parents, Stephen and Milanda (Ashbrook) Cofer, were both natives of Kentucky, his father com- ing to this county about 1831, and lived here the remainder of his life. Stephen Cofer was a plain and unostentatious farmer, who died at the age
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Thomas Hoger
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of sixty, his widow surviving him many years, her death occurring at the advanced age of ninety-four years. Stephen Cofer and wife were the par- ents of eight children, only three of whom are now living: Mrs. Nellie Woods, of Oregon, Mrs. Nancy Riddle, of Kansas, and Judge T. J. Cofer.
Judge Thomas J. Cofer was born, reared and practically educated on the farm. The district schools of his day were very rudimentary, but his thirst for knowledge was such that he insisted on continuing his education. He therefore entered the Danville Academy and continued his education at Asbury University, and would have graduated from that institution had not the Civil War interrupted his career. With the first call for troops in the spring of 1861, Judge Cofer enlisted in the Sixteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry for one year, and immediately upon the expiration of his term of enlistment he joined the Seventh Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. He was in the battle of Port Republic, where he was wounded in the shoulder, captured and thrown into prison, where he remained until he was paroled six months later. He then came home to recuperate, but as soon as he was able to go to the front again he enlisted in 1863 in the Ninth Regiment Indi- ana Cavalry, with which command he served until he was mustered out in September, 1865. He participated in the battles of Pulaski, Franklin, Nash- ville, Spring Hill, Rennell's Hill, Sugar Creek and many others. Immedi- ately after the close of the war Mr. Cofer returned to Hendricks county, and was engaged for a short time in the mercantile business, studying law in the meantime. In 1872 he was admitted to the bar and has practiced in the courts of this county continuously since that time. He first entered into partnership with Judge J. G. Adams and later with Judge Newton M. Taylor. Some time afterwards he entered into partnership with Judge C. C. Hadley. which partnership was terminated in a few years and, until he was appointed judge of the circuit court in 1889, he practiced alone.' Governor Mount ap- pointed Judge Cofer as judge of the circuit court in 1889 to succeed Judge John V. Hadley, who was elected to the supreme court at that time. He served two years as an appointee, and was then elected for six years on the Republican ticket, serving in all eight years. After leaving the bench he formed a partnership with Z. E. Dougan, his son-in-law, and the firm of Dougan & Cofer is still practicing in Danville.
Judge Cofer was married November 9, 1865, to Mary S. Scearce, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Scearce, of this county. Of the six chil- dren who were born to this marriage, four died in infancy, the two living
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being Mrs. Z. E. Dougan and Mrs. Dr. Thomas Barker, both of Danville. Mrs. Judge Cofe died in December, 1902.
Judge Cofer is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Loyal Legion. His career has indeed been a long and useful one in this county and has been marked with success in every particular. He is a man who is popular with every one, because of his cheer- ful disposition and charming personality. He can be truly called one of nature's noblemen.
ROSCOE R. LEAK.
Among the younger generations of Hendricks county farmers is Ros- coe Leak, whose grandfather was one of the early settlers of the county. He is a fine type of the modern farmer who takes advantage of all the latest ideas in scientific agriculture and has the education to properly apply them. By a course which has been characterized by industry and perseverance he has established a reputation for good business methods and sound judgment in all his transactions.
Roscoe R. Leak, the son of James Hilary and Margaret (Leach) Leak, was born September 18, 1884, in Union township, this county. James Hilary Leak was also a native of this county and is the son of James L. and Amanda (Buzzard) Leak. James L. Leak was born in Kentucky in 1816, and came here about 1834 with his parents, James and Elizabeth (Vermillion) Leak. James Leak, the father, was the son of Robert Leak. James was born in Culpeper county in 1787 and came to Bracken county, Kentucky, in 1795. Elizabeth Vermillion was born in 1786 on the present site of Washington, D. C. Robert Leak and his wife, Susan, were born in England at about the close of the Revolutionary War. James H. Leak was born in this township in 1852 and spent his life up until 1909 on the farm where he was born. Margaret Leach, the wife of James Leak, was also a native of Hendricks county and was born in this township in 1865, the daughter of James M. and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Leach. She was married to James H. Leak on Octo- ber 18, 1883. Mr. and Mrs. James H. Leak are the parents of two children, Roscoe, and Denie, who married George H. Dungan, of Urbana, Illinois. James H. Leak and his wife are now living in Lizton.
Roscoe R. Leak spent his boyhood days on the homestead farm and received his education in the schools of his township and the Lizton high
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school. After his graduation from the high school he entered the Central Normal College at Danville, graduating from the scientific course of that institution in 1906. At the age of twenty-five he married and began farming on the old homestead farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres, where he is still residing. He was married on September 15, 1909, to Min- nie Noe, the daughter of John C. and Elizabeth (Selmire) Noe. John C. Noe was born in Clark county, Indiana, near Charleston, and his wife was a native of the same county. Mr. and Mrs. Noe are the parents of four children : Minnie, the wife of Mr. Leak, Henry, Nellie and May. To Mr. and Mrs. Leak has been born one daughter, Margaret.
Mr. Leak is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Lizton and he and his wife are both adherents of the Christian church, in which denomination Mr. Leak is an elder at the present time. He is a Republican in politics and takes an intelligent interest in the political questions of the day. Mr. Leak is a progressive farmer in every sense of the word and uses his brains as well as his brawn in his farming. He is a quiet and unassuming man in de- meanor, yet decisive and firm in standing for what he believes to be the right thing. He is eminently utilitarian, and force of character, firmness of purpose and unswerving integrity are among his chief characteristics. Through his persistent efforts he has made for himself a place in connection with the productive energies and activities of his locality.
WILLIAM ROBERT DAVIDSON.
This is an age in which the farmer stands pre-eminently above any other class as a producer of wealth. He simply takes advantage of the winds, the warm air, the bright sunshine and the refreshing rains and, ap- plying his own hands and skill to nature's gifts, he creates grain, hay, live stock, etc., all of which are absolute necessaries to the inhabitants of the world. Nature does much for the husbandman, so much, indeed, that it is often a question whether he fully appreciates what is thus done for him. Of course he must make proper use of his brain and his muscle, must not quail at obstacles and sit down and repine if things go wrong; on the con- trary, he must ever be up and doing, with a heart for any fate. Such a man is William Robert Davidson, of Eel River township, one of the leading farmers in this locality and a man who has refused to permit obstacles to down him.
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William Robert Davidson, the son of Daniel N. and Elizabeth (David- son) Davidson, was born in North Salem, Hendricks county, Indiana, May 14, 1860. His father, Daniel N., was a son of Silas and Elizabeth ( Stam- per) Davidson, and was born September 6, 1832, in Breathitt county, Ken- tucky. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to this state and settled about two and one-half miles northwest of North Salem, but a year later moved across in Montgomery county and entered land'in the southeastern part of Clark township. Silas Davidson and wife lived there until 1855, then moved to Iowa and spent the remainder of their lives there. Daniel N. Davidson grew to manhood in this county and married Elizabeth David- son, a native of this county and the daughter of Samuel and Susan (Dent) Davidson. Her parents were natives of Kentucky who had come here early in the history of the county. After Daniel N. Davidson was married, he and his wife went to Iowa with his parents, but three years later returned and located in North Salem, where he spent the most of his career in farming, although he has of late years been engaged in the mercantile business in North Salem. Early in life he started to study medicine, but eventually gave this up and devoted his attention to farming. He died in May, 1893, and his wife on December 31, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel N. Davidson were the parents of seven children : Oliver F., who died at the age of nine; Ida, who was the wife of William H. Vannice and died September 7, 1892; Melissa, who was the wife of A. G. Hypes and died in May, 1903; Lillie V., of North Salem; Mary N., the wife of James Oscar Emmons, of North Salem; William Robert, whose career is herein presented, and one child who died in in- fancy.
William Robert Davidson remained on the home farm until his mar- riage, after which he farmed his father's place for eight years and then, after three years' residence in North Salem, he bought ninety-two and a half acres east of his present farm, where he lived for thirteen years. He then sold this farm and moved four miles northeast of North Salem, after which he lived three years in North Salem, then bought his present farm of sixty-seven and a half acres, two miles northeast of North Salem. He has improved his farm in many ways and has brought it up to a high state of cultivation.
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