USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 53
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Henry D. Barlow, the son of James M. and Sarah E. Barlow, was born September 9, 1874, in Brown township, this county. His father was born September 13, 1845, in Washington township, Hendricks county, Indiana, the son of Harvey R. and Sarah E. (Smith) Barlow. Harvey Barlow and wife were the parents of eight children : Hannah Jane, deceased; James M., whose sketch is presented elsewhere in this volume; Ruth Ann Osborn; Mrs. Myra Alice Medsker, deceased; Harrison S .; Harvey M., and two who died in infancy. The great-grandfather of Henry D. Barlow was Enoch Barlow, whose father was a Revolutionary soldier. Enoch Barlow came to Indiana in 1828, settling near Brownsburg, in this county, where he spent the remainder
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of his life, dying there November, 1837, his widow surviving him some years, her death occurring in June, 1856.
Henry D. Barlow was accorded such education as was given in the district schools of his township, and at an early age began to work upon his father's farm. He has lived on the place where he is now residing since he was ten years of age. He has improved his farm and stocked it with mod- ern farming implements and all the necessary accessories for successful farming, and as a tiller of the soil he has been one of the most successful and progressive of his township. He combines the raising of grain with the buying and selling of live stock and thereby, by the use of good judgment, he has been more than ordinarily successful.
Mr. Barlow was married September 9, 1896, to Minnie M. Douglass, daughter of John H. and Mary S. Douglass, of Guilford township, this county. She was born November 17, 1876, in Plainfield, and was educated in the common schools and academy of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Barlow are the parents of six children: Josephine Barlow, born May II, 1897, died August 18, 1899; Milton Paul, born April 16, 1901, and now a pupil in the Plainfield schools; Helen, born April 18, 1905; Marjorie, born October 13, 1907, died July 23, 1909; Mary Elizabeth, born June 19, 1911; Frank Phil- lips Barlow, born May 21, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Barlow are very proud of their children and are giving them every educational advantage in order to equip them for useful careers in their later life.
Mr. Barlow is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both subordinate and encampment, and also of the Knights of Pythias, both lodges being at Plainfield. Mr. Barlow is a man whom to know is to admire, for he has led a most exemplary life and has sought to do his whole duty in all relations with his fellow men. He is a man of honor, public spirit, charitable impulses and unswerving integrity and enterprise, and is consequently deserving of mention in a history of his county.
WILLIAM ALI.EN MILLS.
Fealty to facts in the analyzation of the character of a citizen of the type of William Allen Mills, a well-known and successful resident of Guil- ford township, is all that is required to make a biographical sketch interest- ing to those who have at heart the good name of the community honored by his residence, because it is the honorable reputation of the man of stand-
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ing and affairs, more than any other consideration, that gives character and stability to the body politic. While advancing his individual interests, he has never lost sight of his obligations to the community in general, where for many years he has held a high place in popular confidence and esteem.
The state of Ohio has often boasted that it has furnished some of the best citizens of every state west of it, and the history of Hendricks county shows that many of the best citizens of this county were born in the good old Buckeye state. William Allen Mills, the son of James and Ruth (Wal- ton) Mills, was born in Ohio on September 20, 1849. James Mills was born in 1818 in Ohio and died in this county July 31, 1903. His wife was born in Ohio in 1826 and died April 30, 1901, in this county. A few years after James Mills was married he and his family came to Hendricks county and settled in Washington township on one hundred and sixty acres of land, which is now the home of Edward Mills, the brother of William Allen.
William Allen Mills received his early education in Richmond, Indiana, and early in life showed an aptitude for books. Before reaching his major- ity, he started to teach school and for three years followed this noble pro- fession. In the meantime he attended Earlham College at Richmond, in order to better prepare himself for teaching. However, upon his marriage, in 1874, he decided to leave the school room and engage in farming and in 1875 he moved on to the farm where he now lives. The experience gained in the school room has not been amiss upon the farm, and the same perse- verance and attention to details which made him a successful teacher has brought a full share of success to him in his agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Mills was married October 28, 1874, to Eliza Candace Spray, the daughter of J. W. and A. W. Spray. Mr. Spray died in 1902, and his widow is still living, aged eighty-seven years, and now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Mills. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mills: Walton, of Indianapolis, who is married and has one daughter; Abbie, of Indianapolis, who married Ernest Hawkins, a nurseryman, and has three children, Clarence, Mary and Catherine E .; Clarence, deceased; Maurice, a nurseryman of Indianapolis; James, who will graduate from a veterinary college, Indianapolis, in 1914; John, who was born in 1894 and attended the Plainfield Academy. He intends to follow the occupation of his father.
Mr. Mills gives his support to the Republican party and takes an in- terest in the political issues of the day, although he has never been a candi- date for any political office. He and the members of his family are adher- ents of the Center Friends church, Marion county. He lends his support to
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all public enterprises which are for the public welfare of his community and is known as a public-spirited man whose influence is always on the right side of every public question. During his long residence in this township he has always been regarded as a man of upright principles, kind-hearted to those in need. Few in this community are better or more favorably known than he.
JOHN TUCKER.
The history of the loyal sons and representative citizens of Hendricks county would not be complete should the name that heads this review be omitted. When the fierce fire of rebellion was raging throughout the South- land, threatening to destroy the Union, he responded with patriotic fervor to the call for volunteers and in some of the bloodiest battles for which that great war was noted proved his loyalty to the government he loved so well. During a useful life in the region where he lives he has labored diligently to promote the interests of the people, working earnestly and with little regard for his personal advancement or ease. He has been devoted to the public welfare and in all of his relations his highest ambitions have been to benefit the community and advance its standard of citizenship.
John Tucker, a worthy farmer and gallant veteran of the Civil War and son of a Civil-war veteran, was born January 16, 1845. in Guilford town- ship, this county. His parents were Thornton and Margaret (Bryant) Tucker, the father being a native of Virginia and his mother of Kentucky. Thornton Tucker came to this county from Virginia with his sister when he was fourteen years of age and lived here the remainder of his life. After his marriage he located on a farm which he purchased from John Pritchett. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War Thornton Tucker was forty-four years of age, his two oldest sons, William and John, were less than twenty, but before the close of the war the father and two sons enlisted in the service. The father enlisted in Company D, Twenty-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and was discharged June 28, 1865. He died in October of the same year from disease which he contracted in the army. John enlisted February 28, 1863, in the Second Indiana Battery of Field Artillery, and was discharged July 3, 1865. He was with Banks in the Red River cam- paign in the Southwest and in all of the campaigns of the West during the last two years of the war, being also at the battle of Nashville. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton Tucker were the parents of ten children: William; John,
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whose history is briefly reviewed in this article; Mary A., deceased; George, deceased; Harriett E., deceased; Louisa J., deceased; Milo A .; Florence E .; Clara D., deceased; Hiram D., who died in infancy.
The mother of these children died December 30, 1895. Immediately after the close of the war John Tucker returned to his home county and started in life as a farmer, and has continued at that occupation all his life. He was married August 25, 1869, to Margaret J. Almond, the daughter of James and Emily (Wier) Almond. Mr. Almond was a farmer in Guilford township and he and his wife reared a large family of ten children. Mr. and Mrs. John Tucker have long been faithful members of the Christian church and to that denomination they render generous support in all its activities. He has been a life-long Republican and is interested in the various political features of the day. He keeps well informed on important ques- tions of the hour and is able to give reasons for his views on the various questions which are today confronting the American people. Because of his sterling work, uncompromising integrity, courteous manners and con- genial disposition, he has won and retained the warm regard of all with whom he associates.
ERASMUS D. THOMAS.
The true measure of individual success is determined by what one has accomplished. An enumeration of those men of a past generation who were successful in their life work and at the same time left the impress of their strong personalities upon the community, men who won honor and recog- nition for themselves, and at the same time conferred honor on the locality in which they resided, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph, for, although Erasmus D. Thomas is now sleeping the sleep of the just, his influence still pervades the lives of those who were so fortunate as to enjoy his acquaintance and his name is deeply engraved on the pages of Hendricks county's history. His life was a busy one, for he never allowed anything to interfere with his Christian obligations or the faithful performance of his church duties, so that his entire religious life was a steady effort for the worth of Christian doc- trine, the purity and grandeur of Christian principles and the beauty and elevation of Christian character. Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the mortal tenement of the subject of this memoir, and the superficial observer can have but small appreciation of his
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intrinsic spirituality. His faith was fortified by the deepest study, and the Christian verities were with him the matters of most concern among the changes and chances of this mortal life.
Erasmus D. Thomas, one of the grand old men of Hendricks county, was born in Fayette county, Indiana, November 13, 1821, and died near Danville, Indiana, June 16, 1907. He was the son of David S. and Phoebe (Cole) Thomas, both natives of New York, where they were reared and married. They came to Indiana shortly after their marriage, settling in Fayette county, where they entered land from the government before Indiana was admitted to the Union in 1816.
Erasmus D. Thomas secured a very limited education in the schools of Fayette county, and when a young man resided a short time in Tipton county. He helped lay out the town of Tipton while that county was a wilderness, and was one of its first town officers, in pioneer times. He moved from there to Hancock county, then settled near Acton for a short time. In 1864 he moved to Hendricks county, and lived on a farm northwest of Danville in Center township. His whole life was spent in the service of God and man, either as a minister of the Gospel or as a teacher of the youth. For more than fifty years he was in the active service of teaching the glad tidings of salvation. Before entering the ministry he was engaged in teaching in the public schools for a time. Forty-four years of his ministry were in Danville, where he had charge of the Baptist church. The good that such a man can do is incalculable. He preached in a period when ministers were very poorly paid indeed, and when it was thought that they should live even as did the disciples of Biblical times.
Rev. E. D. Thomas was twice married, his first wife being Mary G. Thompson, of Fayette county. To this first marriage there were born eight children, all of whom are living: John, of Winnepeg, Canada; Mrs. Phoebe E. Morgason, of Bedford, Iowa; Charles, of Enterprise, Oregon; Lewis E., of Ashley, Ohio; Mrs. Hattie Tinder, of Fairchild, Washington; William W., living between North Salem and Montclair; Albert M., of Marion county, Indiana; Erasmus W., pastor of the Baptist church in Danville, who succeeded his father as pastor of this church; Edward D., of Seattle, Wash- ington, and Marshall, of Cordelle, Georgia. His first wife died in 1870, and, in 1871, Mr. Thomas was married to Mrs. Mary E. (Rosborough) Hol- combe, of Gibson county, Indiana, and she is still living with her daughter in Indianapolis. She was a daughter of James and Sarah (Waters) Ros- borough, a highly respected family of Gibson county in this state. To this second marriage were born six children: Dr. Harvey C., of Indianapolis;
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Joseph, who died in infancy ; Frank W., of Sacramento, California; Mary T., the wife of Dr. A. C. Pebworth, of Indianapolis; Raymond D., of Indian- apolis; Mrs. Nellie Mitchell, with whom the mother makes her home in Indianapolis.
The life of the late Rev. E. D. Thomas was indeed a busy one, and dur- ing more than three score years he served his God and his fellow men faith- fully in the pulpit and in the school room. Always calm and straightforward, when he believed he was on the right path nothing could swerve him from it, and to him home life was a sacred trust, and his greatest enjoyment was in his children and his children's children. His life was a blessing and a bene- diction to the community in which he spent so many of his years, and his memory will long be revered by his many friends and acquaintances.
WILLIAM C. OSBORNE.
The career of William C. Osborne, the president of the First National Bank, of Danville, presents many interesting incidents, but in this brief record it will not be profitable to go into his life in detail. Prominently identified with banking interests of Danville and Hendricks county for twenty years, he has made his influence felt in the financial circles of his community during that time. His father and grandfather were identified with the First National Bank of Danville early in its history, and some member of the family has been connected with this institution for the past half century. In the course of the half century which has elapsed since this bank was established Dan- ville has grown from a mere village to a prosperous little city, with well paved streets and beautiful residences. During all of these years the bank has constantly enjoyed the fullest measure of public confidence, passing through every period of general financial stringency with stability unshaken and credit unimpaired. The bank conducts all the departments of commercial banking, making loans, discounts, the buying and selling of government bonds and exchange, issuing foreign drafts, letters of credit and making commercial loans. The safe deposit vaults are equipped in the most approved and modern manner and afford excellent facilities of the safe keeping of papers and val- uables.
William C. Osborne, the son of Edmund and Martha (Cook) Osborne, was born January 16, 1865, on a farm near Kokomo, in Howard county, Indiana. His father was a native of Orange county, this state, but came to
WILLIAM C. OSBORNE
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Hendricks county when a young lad with his parents and lived here until after his marriage, when he moved to Howard county, where he followed the occupation of a farmer for many years, and late in life moved to Hendricks county, where his death occurred. Edmund Osborne and wife were the parents of five children : John H., deceased; William C .; Rosaltha ; Lindley M., and Emma, deceased.
William C. Osborne received his education in the common schools of Howard and Hendricks counties, this state, and then entered the Westtown Schools, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a school under the management of the Friends church. After leaving school he began teaching and for several years followed this profession, during which time he taught in several states in the Union. He incidentally carried on farming to some extent while teach- ing. In 1895 he permanently located in Danville and became associated with the First National Bank as bookkeeper. He rapidly acquired the rudiments of banking and in the course of ten years has risen from the position of bookkeeper to that of the presidency of the bank. He was made cashier in 1899, and in 1909 was elected president, which position he still holds. Mr. Osborne is an able and far-seeing financier, being progressive and conserva- tive and has had for officers men of the highest integrity and business ability. The policy of the bank is conservative and its business is largely confined to commercial banking, a very large percentage of its deposits being indi- vidual and mercantile deposits with sufficient bank deposits to furnish an ex- cellent par list for all of its customers.
Mr. Osborne was married October 24, 1900, to Christine Rogers, daugh- ter of Jonathan and Anne (Valentine) Rogers, natives of Wayne county, Indiana, but living in Georgia at the time of the marriage of their daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Osborne are the parents of five children, Anne Martha, Flor- ence. Elizabeth, Miriam E. and Edmund R., all of whom are still at home with their parents.
Mr. Osborne takes an active interest in everything pertaining to the civic, moral, intellectual and commercial welfare of his county, city and community. A Republican in politics, Mr. Osborne has always taken an active interest in political affairs, but has never felt that he could spare the time from his banking interests to take an active part in political campaigns. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Central Normal College of Danville, an educational institution which has the name of doing good work in its chosen field. He is also president of the board of trustees of Earlham College Endowment Fund. He was president and one of the organizers of the Indianapolis, Danville & Western electric line, the company which built the present road
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between Danville and Indianapolis, and much of the success of that early company was due to his untiring efforts. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while he and all of his family are earnest members of the Friends church, to which they contribute generously of their time and substance. Mr. Osborne is a man of good business abilities, sterling integrity and fine personal address, and the history of his county would not be complete without a record of his achievements.
JOEL NEWLIN.
When such men as Joel Newlin die, not only the public heart is filled with sadness and abiding sense of loss, but there is within the sanctuary of his own household a depth of sorrow that cannot be fathomed, for with all his business ability and public usefulness, it was perhaps in his domestic life and social relations that Mr. Newlin appeared to the best advantage. Ac- cording to those who knew him best, no one ever heard a whisper against his integrity. He was a temperate, well-controlled man and the idol of his family ; he was of a genial, social nature, full, at times, of a quaint, homely, simple humor, that had about it the freshness of childhood; he loved his children and young folks in general, and many a young man was helped and encouraged by him in starting out in life. He was a very agreeable com- panion, manifesting a desire to please those with whom he came in daily contact and he left to his friends, as his choicest legacy, the remembrance of a character without a stain.
Joel Newlin, one of the best loved men of Hendricks county, was born August 26, 1824, in Clinton county, Ohio, and died in Guilford township, Hendricks county, Indiana, January 21, 1913. His parents were John and Esther (Stubs) Newlin, he being one of twelve children, all of whom are now deceased. John Newlin came from North Carolina and settled in Ohio, where he lived his whole life. After the death of John Newlin in Ohio, his widow and the family came to Hendricks county, settling in Guilford town- ship March 31, 1834. In the fall of 1835 the widow of John Newlin bought the farm where the family have since lived.
Joel Newlin, thus early bereft of a father's love and care, helped to assume the responsibility of caring for the family, and the strength of char- acter which was thus developed proved of very much assistance to him in his later life. He received only a meagre education and upon reaching
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young manhood he was married, on August 13. 1846, to Mary Osborn, and to this union were born six children, Anna, Addison, Elias, David, Martha and Calvin.
Calvin Newlin, the youngest of the six children born to his parents, was born on February 5, 1863. He was reared on the homestead farm and received his education in the schools of his township. He was married on August 13, 1885, to Lenora Haworth, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rich- ard M. Haworth, of Clinton county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Newlin are the parents of six children: Bertha, born in October, 1886; Ada M., born May 7, 1890; William McKinley, born February 7, 1892; Edna, born May 15, 1895; Grace, born March 29, 1897; Evelyn, born December 23, 1904. Calvin Newlin, as well as all the members of his family, is a member of the Friends church, and to which they give freely of their means. Mr. Newlin has always farmed on the old home place on which his father lived for seventy-eight years. The subject carries on general farming on one hundred and fifty-seven acres of land. He never aspired for office and votes the Republican ticket. His father was an old-line Whig and later a Repub- lican.
DR. EMMETT T. DAVIS.
Success in what are properly termed the learned professions is a legiti- mate result of merit and painstaking endeavor. In commercial lines one may come into possession of a lucrative business througli inheritance or gift, but professional advancement is gained only by critical study and consecu- tive research. It has only been within the last few years that special atten- tion has been paid to the diseases of live stock, but now there are scores of colleges which have special chairs devoted to diseases of horses, cattle, swine, etc. In large cities there are men who do nothing else but minister to canine ills, and feline doctors who cater only to the special diseases of cats. Dr. Emmett T. Davis has the honor of occupying the first chair in any veter- inary college in the United States on diseases of swine. The study of equine diseases has only recently been reduced to a scientific standard and gradually scientists are classifyying and describing the treatment for diseases of domes- tic animals of all kinds. There is no greater preventive of disease which has a wider use today than the serum which is being manufactured by Dr. Davis & Son for the prevention of hog cholera. This remedy has proven of inestimable value to the farmers of the United States.
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Dr. Emmett T. Davis was born in 1868 in Belleville, Indiana. His par- ents were David W. and Amanda (Newby) Davis. The father of David Davis was born in North Carolina and came to Indiana territory before 1816, and as soon as the United States government acquired what is known as the New Purchase in central Indiana he entered one thousand acres of land in what is now known as Hendricks county. David W. Davis and wife were the parents of four children: Alva Eugene, Arthur M., Emmett T. and Evon B. David Davis, who was born in Hendricks county, and here followed farming, is now living near the gulf coast in Alabama.
Doctor Davis received his elementary education in the common schools of his county and early in life became interested in the diseases of animals, particularly the diseases of horses and hogs, and has made it his life work, specializing upon the diseases of swine. For many years he was the leading practitioner in his line in central Indiana and when the Indiana Veterinary College was established, at Indianapolis, the chairs of swine diseases and diseases of cattle and their treatment was created for his occupancy. A serum, which he has produced after many years of experimenting, for the prevention of hog cholera, has made his name known throughout the United States by men who are interested in the raising of swine. He has asso- ciated with him in his practice his sons, Dr. LaRue and Roger. However, he devotes a great deal of time as an instructor in the veterinary college at Indianapolis and to the manufacture of the hog cholera serum. He has a well-equipped hospital where the best of care is given to hogs, cattle, horses and other animals.
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