USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 39
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Henry Simpson Cox attended school in the rude log structures of his day, and received a practical education in the three "R's," which were the only subjects in the curriculum at that time. He was early taught all of the ins and outs of farming life by his father, and when he married and started to operate a farm of his own, at the age of twenty-five, he was well equipped * for the profession of farming. As a successful tiller of the soil he has few peers in the county and his farm of two hundred and nineteen acres bears glowing testimony to his success along agricultural lines.
Mr. Cox was married, February 3, 1874, to Mary Frances Flynn, daugh- ter of Alfred and Artemesia (White) Flynn, and to this happy marriage have been born four children: Eva, who married Gus Bartholomew, and they have two children, Edgar and Hazel; Jennie married Frank Stanley ; William Dayton, who is unmarried and still at home, and Alice, who also is under the parental roof.
Mincher Cox. the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was one of the thousands of North Carolinians who came to this state. He came here as a young man and first settled in Morgan county, near Mooresville, where he farmed and engaged in the buying and trading of horses. He seemed to have been an adventurer of more than ordinary pretensions. We are told that on one of his nummerous horse-selling trips he took a small pacing horse and drove it from Morgan county to Chicago, but when he reached the out- skirts of that city a trapper offered him twenty acres of land for the horse,
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but his offer was refused. It is not related, however, just what he did get for the horse. Mincher Cox married in Morgan county and afterwards moved to Clay township, in Hendricks county, where he remained for about eight years. The wanderlust then seized him and he moved to Grant county, Indiana, where he remained until his death. He married Sarah Nichols, and to this union six children were born, all of whom are deceased: William, the father of Henry Simpson; Lydia, who, married John Scharey; Harriett married Daniel Hollingsworth; Louisa became the wife of Austin Williams; James A., who married Lena Hathaway, and Thomas, who died unmarried.
The mother of Henry Simpson Cox was the daughter of William and Polly (Cleveland) Plasters, and was one of nine children, the others being as follows: John, who married Rebecca Bullard; Betsy became the wife of Michael Higgins; Eveline became the wife of Cyrus Moore; Phoebe mar- ried Alfred Stanley; Jackson; Polly became the wife of Buckner Highton; William married Mary Burgner; Sallie became the wife of Bunk Burnett, and Lucy, who married William Cox.
The father of Mrs. Henry S. Cox was Alfred Flynn, a native of Ken- tucky. He was reared on a farm in that state and after his marriage moved to Clinton county, Indiana, where he remained for about six years. He then moved to Hendricks county and located on a farm in Middle township, where he remained until his death, November 10, 1908, his wife having preceded“ him in death in 1898. He had married Artemesia White, the daughter of William and Polly White, and to that union were born nine children: Mary Frances, the wife of Henry S. Cox; John, who married Martha Arnold; Nancy, who became the wife of Thomas Day; Louisa, who married Frank Burchman; George; William; Frank; Ella, who married William Smith; Ollie, who married Josie McCall.
Mr. Cox has been a life-long Democrat and has taken an active interest in the deliberations of his party. Some idea of the popularity which he has throughout the county is shown by the fact that he was elected in Novem- ber, 1912, as commissioner of Hendricks county, despite the fact that Hen- dricks is a strong Republican county. In this important office he has shown that he has that admirable judgment and good common sense which is the making of a good and efficient public official. Mr. Cox is a man of genial personality and numbers his friends in every corner of the county. He is a man who has the welfare of his county at heart and is using his best efforts to improve his home county in every possible way.
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
A. EMMETT BLY.
It is one of the beauties of our government that it acknowledges no hereditary rank or title, no patent of nobility save that of nature's, leaving every man to establish his own rank by becoming the artificer of his own fortune. Places of honor and trust, rank and preferment thus happily placed before every individual, high or low, rich or poor, to be striven for by all, but earned alone by perseverance and sterling worth, are most always sure to be filled with deserving men, or at least by those possessing the energy and talent essential to success in contests where public position is the prize. A. Emmett Bly, the subject of this review, affords a conspicuous example of the successful, self-made American, who is not only eminently deserving of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens, but also possesses the neces- sary energy and talent that fits him to discharge worthily the duties of the responsible place with which he has been honored by the people of his county. A man of vigorous mentality and strong mental fiber, he finds those qualities the chief factor in the carving out of a career that has been above the sus- picion of reproach and of honor to the county which he so ably and acceptably serves.
A. Emmett Bly, one of the most successful business men of Plainfield, Indiana, was born three miles southeast of Danville, Indiana, on November 24, 1878, the son of Joseph and Lydia (Morgan) Bly, who were both natives of this county also. His father is a farmer and lives north of the depot in the same house where Judge John V. Hadley, the editor of this work, was born. He was a huckster by trade for eighteen years, but within the last few years he has been operating a farm, which is owned jointly by himself and son, A. E. Bly. The grandfather of Mr. Bly was Joseph Bly, a native of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, who came to this county when a young man and settled at North Belleville, where he followed the occupation of a farmer all his life. He was married to Mary Powers, and to them were born several children, Joshua, Joseph, William, John, Jane, Lizzie and one child who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Bly reared a very interesting family of eight children: Alta, the wife of Frank Stout, of Indianapolis; John Dott, who died November 29, 1905, at Phoenix, Arizona, had been associated with A. Emmett in the dry goods business for some years. They started in busi- ness together in August, 1896. The two brothers had been agents for the Indianapolis News, Sun and Journal, and their mercantile success was formed upon the pennies earned and saved in the sale of newspapers. They
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won the state prize from the Indianapolis News for the largest number of sales. John Dott Bly was born July 22, 1877, and was cut off in early man- hood when he was giving great promise of a brilliant career. He was super- intendent of the Sunday school, very active in the fraternal order of the Knights of Pythias, and an exceptionally bright young man. The third child of Joseph Bly is A. Emmett, the immediate subject of this sketch; Daisy, the wife of Robert Copeland, of Plainfield; Ralph, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Plainfield; Robert, who is employed in the Boys' Reform School at Plainfield; Okal, wife of Frank Waggoner, and an infant child who died at the age of three weeks.
A. Emmett Bly was born on his father's farm and educated in the public schools of his home county and attended the Central Academy at Plainfield. At an early age he engaged in the mercantile business, purchasing the small stock of dry goods owned by W. E. Phillips, when he was only seventeen years of age. A few days later his brother, John Dott, eighteen years old, who had been mentioned before, came into the business as an equal partner and the store was a money maker from the beginning. The two youthful merchants seemed to have the innate ability which characterizes successful business men and their success was assured from the start. No more popular young men ever started in business in Plainfield than the two Bly brothers, and their business transactions were such as to win for them the confidence of their rapidly increasing patronage. Mr. Bly now carries a large and well selected stock of goods, valued at fifteen thousand dollars, and enjoys his full share of the patronage of the people of his vicinity in the lines which he handles. He is splendidly qualified in every respect for a business career, and by his unfailing courtesy and untiring and persistent industry, system- atic and honorable methods, he has gained the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in contact.
A. Emmett Bly was married on June 25, 1905, to Louise Juanita Lowry, the daughter of Orville and Frances (Utterback) Lowry, and to this happy union there have been born two children, Karl. Dott, born February 26, 1910, and Melba, born March 4, 1912. The family residence is one of the most attractive and comfortable modern homes in Plainfield, and here the many friends of the family are delighted to gather, where they are always assured of a hearty welcome and an enjoyable hour. Mrs. Bly is a woman of many gracious qualities of character and possesses intellectual ability of a high order. She is an ideal wife and mother, and her husband attributes no small amount of his success to the comfort and counsel of his wife.
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Mr. Bly's remarkable success in business has brought him into close connection with the financial life of his community. He is now a director in the Citizens State Bank of Plainfield, has landed interests in Texas, Georgia, and in his home county, where he and his father own one hundred and four acres. His interest in education and the intellectual advancement of his community is shown in the fact of his live interest in the public library of his town. He is now a member of the library board. Officially, he is connected with the township advisory board of Guilford township as its secretary. His father was trustee of this township in 1904, and made an excellent record in that important office. When he took charge of the office, the township was in debt, and he not only repaired the roads of the township and made many im- provements, but cleared off the indebtedness of the township and left a large surplus at the end of his term of office. Mr. Bly is a member of the Friends church and contributes generously of his means to its support. Fra- ternally; he is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Free and Accepted Masons. His political party has recognized his influence and ability by selecting him as a delegate to the state convention, and he has for many years been a delegate to the Republican conventions, both county and state.
The success of A. Emmett Bly is a real story and needs no flattering statements to show what may be accomplished by a genuine lover of good. honest work. His rise from a country newsboy to a leading merchant and substantial citizen while yet a young man is a story of fact rarely equaled even in this day of phenomenal successes, and yet through it all he has main- tained that sympathy with his fellow citizens which endears him to everyone with whom he comes in contact. Personally, he is a pleasant gentleman and is not only held in high esteem for his abilities, but for his public-spirited nature, his wholesome private and social life and his position is secure as one of Hendricks county's most influential citizens.
ERNEST COOPER, M. D.
There is no class to whom greater gratitude is due from the world at large than the self-sacrificing, sympathetic, noble-minded men whose life work is the alleviation of suffering and the ministering of comfort to the afflicted, to the end that the span of human life may be lengthened and a
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great degree of satisfaction enjoyed during the remainder of their eartlily sojourn. There is no standard by which their beneficent influence can be measured; their helpfulness is limited only by the extent of their knowledge and skill, while their power goes hand in hand with the wonderful laws of nature that spring from the very source of life itself. Some one has aptly said, "He serves God best who serves humanity most." Among the physi- cians and surgeons of Hendricks county, Indiana, who have risen to eminence in their chosen field of endeavor is the subject of this review, whose career has been that of a broad-minded, conscientious worker in the sphere to which. his life and energies have been devoted and whose profound knowledge of his profession has won for him a leading place among the most distinguished medical men of his day and generation in the city of his residence.
Dr. Ernest Cooper, the son of William B. and Rachel ( Ritter ) Cooper, was born in Guilford township, Hendricks county, Indiana, June 8, 1870. His father was a native of North Carolina and his mother of Hendricks county, Indiana. William Cooper came to Hendricks county in 1850, when about eighteen years of age, driving through in a wagon. He was a farmer all his life and continued that occupation until his death, which occurred in 1893, at the age of sixty-one, his wife having preceded him in death in 1879, at the age of thirty-eight. To Mr. and Mrs. William Cooper were born twelve children, four of whom are living: Mrs. Etta Wolfe, of Clear- water, Florida; G. A., of Oregon; Everett, of Escondido, California, and Ernest.
Ernest Cooper was reared on the home farm and enjoyed all the pleas- ures which fall to the lot of the ordinary farmer's boy. He secured his elementary education in the district schools of his township, and at the age of nineteen entered the Central Academy at Plainfield, this county, working his way through the four-years high school course. After his graduation, in 1893, he taught school in his home township for two years and worked on his uncle's farm in the summer seasons. While he was attending the school at Plainfield he slept in a doctor's office and here he got his first taste of medical life. Although he had but little money, he was determined to secure a medical education, and with that end in view he entered the Indiana Medical School at Indianapolis in 1895 and worked his way through, finish- ing with the class of 1898. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he enlisted as a private in the hospital corps of the regular army and served during the summer and fall of 1898. Within the first four weeks of his
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service he was promoted to acting hospital steward and mustered out as such. Returning to his home county, he began the active practice of medicine at Plainfield as a partner of Doctor Carter and continued this partnership for the next seven years, since which time he has practiced alone. He has built up gradually a large and lucrative practice, and in 1911 he built his present modernly equipped office brick building, which is fully equipped for general practice and all kinds of surgical work. At the present time he is in charge of the Boys' Reform School at Plainfield, and has had this important position for the past five years. He has served four years on the pension board, several years as health officer, and is also surgeon for the Terre Haute, In- dianapolis & Eastern Traction Company at Plainfield.
Doctor Cooper was married on June 12, 1900, to Eleanor Hanna, daugh- ter of Hon. John Hanna, ex-congressman and one of the notable men of Indiana. Doctor and Mrs. Cooper are the parents of two daughters, Portia E., aged ten years, and Lucia V., aged seven.
Doctor Cooper is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men, and takes a very active interest in lodge circles, for the past seven years having been treasurer of the Masonic lodge at Plainfield. He is a member of the Hendricks County, State and American medical associations. He and his wife hold affiliations with the Friends church and contribute generously of their means to its sup- port. He has been a life-long Republican in politics, but, in accordance with the usual custom of physicians, he does not take an active part in political affairs, deeming it better to devote all of his time and attention to the medical practice.
Doctor Cooper has won his success only through hard work and diligent study. His life history is the history of a man who has struggled through his boyhood and manhood to attain the position which he holds today. He met with a very unfortunate mishap on July 22, 1910, when an accidental discharge of a shotgun so crippled his left leg that it was necessary to amputate it. The fortitude which he showed upon this occasion is character- istic of the indomitable courage of the man and stamped him as a man of unusual character. His whole life has been one of struggle, and now that he has reached a place where his practice is sufficiently lucrative to enable him to enjoy life he takes a supreme pleasure in helping those less fortunate. He and his good wife are the centers of a happy home and dispense hospitality to a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
+16
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
JACOB E. O'NEAL.
The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his neighbors and fellow citizens. In touching upon the life history of the subject of this sketch the writer aims to avoid fulsome encomium and extra- vagant praise; yet he desires to hold up for consideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, useful and honorable life-a life characterized by perseverance, energy, broad charity and well-defined pur- pose. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum pronounced upon the man by the people who have known him long and well.
Jacob E. O'Neal, the son of William H. and Elizabeth ( Keller ) O'Neal, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, January 18, 1863. He died August 27, 1907, and she lives with her children. William O'Neal was not fortu- nate enough to receive very much schooling, but was given a practical educa- tion at home. He hired out by the month until grown, then was inarried and at the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in Company K, One Hun- dred Forty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. Prior to the war he married Elizabeth Keller, the daughter of John Keller, and to this union there were born nine children: Naomi, wife of Mahlon Sechman; Florence, wife of John Robinson; Lor- enzo, who married Sarah Knetzer; Mary, wife of Phillip Masten; Robert; William S. married Ida Bryant ; Julia, wife of Oliver P. Phillips; Nora B., wife of Dayton Kersey, and Jacob E., the immediate subject of this sketch.
Jacob E. O'Neal received his elementary education in the district schools of Putnam and Hendricks counties and after leaving school worked on the farm with his father until his marriage. He then rented a farm and, by strict management and sound judgment, he was sufficiently successful to enable him to purchase his present farm of one hundred eight acres in 1900. As a farmer he has made a pronounced success and is considered one of the successful stock raisers of the county.
Mr. O'Neal was married to Anna J. Harlan, the daughter of Jesse E. and Jemima ( Robinson) Harlan, and to their marriage have been born three children, Claude E., Frank H. and Sadie F. Claude, who is a professor in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, married Mabel Hostetter. Frank is still under the parental roof. Sadie married Schuyler Arnold and will live in Stilesville.
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Jesse Harlan, father of Mrs. O'Neal, was born in North Carolina and his wife, Jemima Robinson, was a native of Kentucky, and they were the par- ents of twelve children: William R., who died in infancy; Benjamin F., who married Ella Kendall; Levi, who married Flora Pike; Henry, who mar- ried Ella Lisby; Lydia, who became the wife of Willett Klein; Sarah, wife of Frank Snodgrass; Mary, who became the wife of Smith Harlan; Charles, who married Lora Wise; Anna, wife of Jacob E. O'Neal; Clara, wife of Marion Grimes; Retta, wife of Virgil Rollings; Lula, unmarried. Mr. Har- lan lives in Clay township; his wife died on July 30, 1895.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. O'Neal had a family of seven chil- dren, James, George, William H. (the father of Mr. O'Neal), Henry, La- vina, Elizabeth and Emmeline. Mr. O'Neal's maternal grandparents reared nine children, John, Steven, Jesse, Enoch, James, Elizabeth, Melinda, Marion and Rachel.
Mr. O'Neal is a member of the Progressive party, having allied himself with that new organization in the fall of 1912. He is a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, while, religiously, he and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Coatesville, Indiana, and are actively interested in the various organizations of that church. Mr. O'Neal has always taken an active interest in political life and has been assessor of his home township for four years and county treasurer for two years, performing the important duties of these offices in a very satisfactory manner. In his public career, as well as in his private life, he has been a man who conducted all of his business in a straightforward and upright manner, thereby winning the esteem of his fellow citizens.
SANDERS SMITH.
The following is a sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who, by correct living and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons, has made his influence felt in Plainfield and won for himself distinctive prestige in the professional circles of that city. He would be the last man to sit for romance or become the subject of fancy sketches, nevertheless his life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young, whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable notoriety, which
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their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped upon the community.
Sanders Smith, the restaurant man of Plainfield, and one of the most public-spirited citizens of that little city, was born February 18, 1854, near Hall, Morgan county, Indiana. His parents were Henry B. and Jane (Car- der ) Smith, his father being a native of Kentucky and his mother of Indiana. Henry Smith was one of the best farmers of Morgan county, and spent all of his life tilling the soil in that county, his death occurring there May 13, 1910. Henry Smith was a Democrat of the old school and was a man of more than ordinary education and strength of character. He and his wife were loyal members of the Christian church and great students of the Bible. His wife was one of the best informed Bible students in the county where they lived and was a daughter of John Carder, who was probably the best Bible student in this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Smith were the parents of nine children, five of whom are living: Sanders, the immediate subject of this sketch; Harvey M., of Mooresville, Indiana; Stephen, of New Orleans; Henry K., of Hall, Morgan county, this state; Rena Smith, of Indianapolis.
Sanders Smith was born and reared on his father's farm and received all his education upon the farm and in the district schools of his home neigh- borhood. He continued working on the home farm until he was twenty- four years of age, at times working for farmers in the vicinity of his home for a few months at a time. He also clerked in a store at Hall, Indiana, for about two years, and in 1881 he came to Plainfield and established a res- taurant and confectionery store. In 1886 he concluded he could better his fortunes by removing to Danville, and the next four years of his life were spent in that city, where he operated a restaurant and confectionery store on the east side of the public square. However, in 1890, he decided to re- turn to Plainfield, and he has continued in the restaurant and confectionery business in that place since. He now has a building of his own and has one of the most complete and fully equipped restaurants and soda fountains in the state. He freezes his own cream by electricity and has installed all the latest devices for the convenience of his patrons, having an equipment which will compare favorably with any town of the size of Plainfield in the state.
Mr. Smith was married March 25, 1875, to Olive L. Seaton, daughter of George W. Seaton, of Morgan county, this state, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Iva E. Seaman, the wife of Dr. H. L. Seaman,
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