USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 54
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Doctor Davis was married August 18, 1889, to Clarice Deacon, the daughter of John and Catherine (Larue) Deacon. His wife was born Janu- ary 3, 1869, in Shelby county, Indiana. She came to this county with her parents when she was a small child. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two children. Larue, who is following in the footsteps of his father and is already recog- nized as an expert in the diseases of animals, was born January 13, 1890, and was married on October 28, 1911, to Hortense Reeder, who died ten months later. Roger, the second son of Doctor and Mrs. Davis, is studying in the Indiana Veterinary College, and will join the firm of Emmett T. Davis & Son upon his graduation.
Politically, Doctor Davis is a Progressive; fraternally, is a Mason, Odd Fellow and Red Man, while his religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal church.
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JAMES M. LAWLER.
It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs that makes the real history of a community and his influence as a potential factor of the body politic is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual way, to their achievements in advancing the interests of their fellow men and in giving strength and solidity to the institu- tions which make so much for the prosperity of a community. Such a man is the worthy subject of this sketch, and as such it is proper that a short out- line of his career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of his community.
James M. Lawler, one of the leading farmers of Brown township, is a native of this county, having first seen the light of day on July 27, 1851, being the son of Nicholas and Anna (Buchannon) Lawler, the latter being a native of the Blue Grass state and the daughter of Levi Buchannon. Mr. Lawler has the distinction of having lived on the same farm all his life with the ex- ception of four years, two of which were passed in another portion of the same township.
On December 28, 1876, James M. Lawler was united in marriage with Mary E. Wilson, daughter of Jones and Telitha (Lumpkins) Wilson, of Boone county. The Lumpkin family originally came from Putnam county, this state, and after taking up their residence in Boone county became ac- quainted with the family of Wilson, Jones Wilson having passed the greater portion of his life in that county. To Mr. and Mrs. Lawler have been born three children, the eldest of the family being Charles O., whose wife was Ethel McDaniel, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Gossett) McDaniel, citizens of Brown township, Hendricks county. Charles O. Lawler resides in Indianapolis and is the father of two children, Esther and Mildred. Stella M., Mr. Lawler's oldest daughter, became the wife of Homer Smith, of Boone county, son of Anderson and Mary (Layton) Smith. Their home is in Brown township, just west of that of the subject, and they also have two children, Irene and Hazel Ruth. The third child of the subject is Dora A., who remains at home with her parents.
Mr. Lawler has devoted the energies of his life to the conduct of his business as an agriculturist and to the keeping and protecting of his home, being a man of decided domestic traits. His farm is generally conceded to be
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one of the very best farms in the township and to this praise he is certainly entitled, being one of the most energetic men of his community: Quiet and unassuming in his relations with his fellow men, he nevertheless, by reason of his sterling worth and excellent qualities of head and heart, has won an enviable place in the respect of his fellow citizens and is, therefore, eminently entitled to representation in a work of the scope intended in the present one.
JOHN Q. A. MATTERN.
Among the men of Hendricks county who have served their county with distinction as private citizens and public officials is John Q. A. Mattern, a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Guilford township. There are certain characteristics which are found in men who are destined to act as leaders in their communities, and among these are perseverance, honesty and sincerity of purpose. These characteristics are strikingly exemplified in the man whose history is herein delineated and consequently he is justly regarded as one of the representative citizens of his county.
John A. Mattern, the son of John W. and Anna (Woodrow) Mattern, was born in Marion county, Indiana, on February II, 1846. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania and reared a family of four children.
John Q. A. Mattern received a common school education and at an early age began to work on his father's farm. When a young man he began farming for himself as soon as married and by good management and close application to his agricultural interests he has acquired a farm which is one of the best in his township, it comprising three hundred and sixty acres in one body. He has always been very actively engaged in the stock-raising depart- ment of farm work and for fourteen years was a stock commissioner at the stock yards in Indianapolis. However, he has not allowed his material wel- fare to blind him to those civic duties which every citizen should perform. He has served as treasurer and county commissioner of Hendricks county, and in both capacities rendered faithful and efficient service to the citizenship of the county.
Mr. Mattern was married on October 6, 1869, to Dana Mills, the daugh- ter of Jehu Mills, of this county. His wife was one of five children, two of whom died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Mattern are the parents of four children: Edwin, born February 9, 1871; William, born January 3, 1880, who married Jessie Smith and has two children, and is now in the stock com-
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mission business at Indianapolis; Laura A., born September 16, 1886, mar- ried Earl Hoffman, a farmer in Marion county, Indiana; Leota, born July 28, 1888.
On February 20, 1864, Mr. Mattern enlisted in Company D, One Hun- dred and Twenty-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served under General Sherman in the famous Atlanta campaign, his military record being characterized by courage of a high order.
Politically, Mr. Mattern has been a life-long Republican; fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, while his religious membership is with the Friends society.
WILLIAM P. CLARK.
In examining the life records of self-made men, it will invariably be found that indefatigable industry has constituted the basis of their success. True, there are other elements which enter in and conserve the advancement of personal interests-perseverance, discrimination and mastering of expe- dients-but the foundation of all achievement is earnest, persistent labor. At the outset of his career Mr. Clark recognized this, and he did not seek any royal road to the goal of prosperity and independence, but began to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself, and the result is that he is now numbered among the progressive, successful and influential business men of Hendricks county.
William P. Clark, the son of Alfred and Sarah (Aker) Clark, was born January 28, 1851, in Butler county, Ohio. Alfred Clark was born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1820, his wife being born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in July, 1834. She came to Butler county, Ohio, when she was seven years of age with her parents, and is still living in Irving, Indiana.
William P. Clark came with his parents from Butler county, Ohio, to Marion county, Indiana, when he was two years old and lived there until 1875, when he moved to the farm where he is now living. He was married April 14, 1880, to Elma Anderson, daughter of Edward and Amanda (Wil- lits) Anderson. Mrs. Clark was born near Knightstown, Indiana, February 22, 1862. Her mother died when she was only nine months old and she was taken to her grandmother's at Noblesville, Indiana, where she lived until she was nine years old. She then went to the home of Isaac Harden, in Wash-
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ington township, Hendricks county, where she remained until her marriage to Mr. Clark.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark have four children: Leola May, who was born March 17, 1881, and died after reaching womanhood, having married Harry Gray; Walter Raymond, who was born November 19. 1883, and died March 20, 1887; Sarah Louisa, born May 2, 1886, died March 9, 1887; and Alford A., the only child living, was born November 14, 1888. He married Merley Sarkey, daughter of Charles and Viola Sarkey, of Clermont, Indiana, and is living with her father on the old home farm.
The subject carries on a general farming business, also raising Poland- China hogs and Shorthorn cattle, and has one hundred and sixty acres on the home place, besides forty acres in Wayne township, Marion county, In- diana. He votes the Democratic ticket. Mrs. Clark is a member of Shiloh Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Clark built his fine home in 1908 and put up every building on the farm. He made all of the improvements just as they stand, for when he got the farm it was badly run down. He has laid over two thousand rods of drain tile.
THEODORE T. MARTIN.
Theodore T. Martin, the superintendent of Hendricks county schools, was born on a farm in Orange county, Indiana, August 25, 1882. His parents were Charles and Mary Ann (Ferguson) Martin, his father being a native of Germany and his mother of Indiana, her people coming from Eng- land to North Carolina and then to Indiana. Charles Martin was a ma- chinist and later a farmer.
Superintendent Martin graduated from the public schools of his home county and later entered Central Normal College, at Danville, in 1901, where he pursued high school work. He taught three years in the district schools of Orange county, one year in the city schools of Summitville, Madison county, and four years in Hendricks county.
Mr. Martin graduated from the teachers' course (Central Normal Col- lege) in 1905; from the scientific course at the same institution in 1906 and from the Indiana State Normal School, at Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1909; he has since been a student in Indiana University.
In 1907 Mr. Martin was chosen principal of the Avon high school, Hendricks county, and continued there for two years. In the fall of 1909
THEODORE T. MARTIN
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he became superintendent of the North Salem schools, Hendricks county, and remained there for the succeeding two years. In June of 1911 he was elected county superintendent of Hendricks county public schools by the county board of education, and was the first Democrat to hold the office in this county.
Mr. Martin was married to Eva Marie Osborne, of Clinton county, in December of 1906. They became acquainted while attending Central Nor- mal College.
In January of 1912, in co-operation with the county board of education, Mr. Martin caused a large wall map of the county to be made and placed in every schoolroom of the county so that a study of local industries, location of town, township and county places could be determined, and a familiarity with home conditions be included in the public schools. In January of 1914 the same board, in co-operation with members of the farmers' organization, procured the services of a county agricultural agent for the leadership in developing scientific farming through the county and supervising the teach- ing of agriculture in the public schools.
Mr. Martin is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Danville, and is a member of the Masonic lodge of North Salem. While performing his duties as county superintendent he has followed the worthy example of his predecessors and has conducted the educational affairs free from polit- ical influence and has tried to place merit as his guide.
HON. JAMES MILTON BARLOW.
It is a pleasure to investigate the career of a successful, self-made man. Great honor attaches to that individual who, beginning the great struggle of life alone and unaided, gradually overcomes environment, removing one by one the obstacles from the pathway of success, and by the master strokes of his own force and vitality succeeds in forging his way to the front and winning for himself a position of esteem and influence among his fellow men. Such is the record, briefly stated, of James M. Barlow, for several decades recognized as one of the most substantial and representative citizens of Hendricks county, to a brief synopsis of whose life and character the reader's attention is herewith directed. His protracted residence in this county has made his name widely and familiarly known. His life and the history
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of this locality for a period of nearly a half century has been pretty nearly one and the same thing, and he has lived to see and take a prominent part in the later growth of the community. He is a progressive man in the broadest sense of the term. Realizing the wants of the people, he has tried to supply the demands of his constituents generously and unsparingly. His has been a life of honor and trust, and no higher eulogy can be passed upon him than to state the simple truth that his name has never been coupled with anything disreputable, nor has there been the shadow of a stain upon his reputation for integrity and unwavering honesty. He has been a consistent man in all that he has undertaken, and his career in the various relations of life has been utterly without pretense. Because of his earnest life, high attainments, well rounded character and large influence, he is largely entitled to representa- tion in a work of this character.
James Milton Barlow was born on September 13, 1845, in Washing- ton township, Hendricks county, Indiana, and is the son of Harvey R. and Sarah E. (Smith) Barlow, the former born April 1, 1818, in Scott county, Kentucky, and the latter born in Henry county, Kentucky, December 8, 1822. To these parents were born eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom four still survive, namely : The first born died in infancy ; Hannah Jane C. died in early youth ; James M., the subject of this sketch, was next in order of birth; Ruth Ann lives in Marion county ; a daughter, who died in infancy ; Mrs. Myra Alice Medsker died at the age of forty years, leaving a husband and eight children; Harrison S., of Brownsburg, Indiana; Harvey Morton, of Brownsburg. The subject's paternal grandfather, Enoch Barlow, was the son of a Revolutonary soldier and he himself was one of the early settlers in Scott county, Kentucky, his birth having occurred in Virginia. Event- ually he moved to Indiana and in September, 1828, settled near Brownsburg, where he spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring in November, 1837. He was survived a number of years by his widow, who died on June 16, 1856. They were the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. Harvey R. Barlow was a man of considerable prominence in his community and was captain of a company of state volunteers. Harvey R. Barlow came to Indiana at the age of ten years at the time of his father's death and took upon himself the management of the home farm. He was of necessity deprived of educational advantages, two months comprising the entire period of his attendance at school. However, he was of a studious disposition and by the most persistent efforts acquired a splendid education, so that for many years he was enabled to teach school to the entire satis- faction of parents and pupils. His death occurred on August 5, 1872. His
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wife, whose maiden name was Sarah J. Smith, and who was a native of Kentucky, died at the age of seventy-three years. She came to this state in 1837, and was a woman of splendid qualities of character, an ardent Presby- terian and rearing her children in that faith. In the early life of Hend- ricks county, Harvey Barlow was prominent and progressive in his methods, having built the first saw- and grist-mill in the county. He was a man of strong character and forceful personality, and in the community where he lived he was held in high esteem.
James M. Barlow received his elementary education in the public schools and then became a student in Wabash College. On April 30, 1864, when but eighteen years of age, he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he rendered valiant service until receiving an honorable discharge in September, 1864. He took part in a number of hotly contested engagements and arduous campaigns, and received a certificate of thanks from President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin H. Stanton, for valuable services rendered by him during the Atlanta campaign. Mr. Barlow has been a very active man and at the close of the war he went on the road as a traveling salesman for Powers. & Weeks, lithographers of Cincinnati, Ohio, with whom he remained for two years. He then engaged in teaching school and was thus employed in twenty-two different schools, gaining an enviable reputation as a professional teacher and good administrative officer. For awhile he also gave some atten- tion to auctioneering, in which he was successful, and also owned and oper- ated a butcher shop in Brownsburg, and also a drug store. Then he was employed as bookkeeper for a firm in Pittsboro, in which position he gained a good, practical experience. In young manhood, by rigid economy and wise management, he succeeded in acquiring a small farm, which he operated with such good success that he was enabled to add to it from time to time, until at length he became the owner of seven hundred acres of fine farming land, of which he has given four hundred acres to his children, owning now three hundred acres of land. Aside from his farming interests, Mr. Barlow is identified with the Van Camp Packing Company, of Indianapolis. Strong and forceful in his relations with his fellow men, he has gained the good will and commendation of all with whom he has been brought in contact, ever retaining his reputation among men for integrity and high character and never losing that dignity which is the birthright of a gentleman. The splen- did success which came to Mr. Barlow has been directly traceable to the salient points in his character, for he started in life at the bottom of the ladder, which he mounted unaided. He is a splendid example of the virile,
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progressive, self-made man, who believes in doing well whatever is worth doing at all.
Politically a Republican, Mr. Barlow has for many years been active in public affairs, and has been an important and influential factor in many move- ments for the welfare of his state. In 1897 and 1899 he was representative from Hendricks county in the Legislature, and in 1901-2-3 was a member of the Senate, representing the district of Boone and Hendricks counties. In these bodies his ability was recognized and he was placed on several of the most important committees. He was chairman of the agricultural committee, chairman of the committee on reformatory institutions, and on a number of other important committees in both bodies. He served his community as justice of the peace for four years, and a noteworthy feature of his adminis- tration of the office was that he was influential in having many cases settled out of court, thus saving useless litigation and expense. His decisions as justice of the peace were marked by a high sense of fairness and justice, never having a decision reversed in the higher courts. Fraternally, Mr. Barlow has been a member of Lodge No. 188, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. for forty-eight years. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Lodge No. 167, and at present a member of Post No. 186, Grand Army of the Republic. He was a charter member of John A. Hollett Post No. 242, Grand Army of the Republic. In the Knights of Pythias, Mr. Barlow has been quite prominent, having taken an active part in the organiza- tion of the Uniform Rank, being elected major of the First Battalion of the First Regiment, this being the first regiment ever organized in this body, and the first and oldest regiment in the world. Mr. Barlow served as chief of staff of Commander in Chief Thomas J. Stewart, of Pennsylvania, when the Grand Army of the Republic met at San Francisco, and has for many years been prominent in the various councils of this veteran organization. For twenty years Mr. Barlow served as president of the Old Settlers' Picnic, one of the popular and prominent organizations of Hendricks county, an annual feature of which was an address given by the governor of the state. Relig- iously, Mr. Barlow has for many years been a faithful and earnest member of the Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder, and in 1903 was one of the delegates from Indiana to the general assembly of the church which met at Philadelphia. Mr. Barlow is a public spirited man in all that the term im- plies and is actively interested in enterprises tending to promote the general welfare, withholding his support from no movement for the good of the locality honored by his residence. His personal relations with his fellow men have ever been mutually pleasant and agreeable, and he is highly regarded
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by all, being easily approached, obliging and straightforward in all the rela- tions of life.
On May 17, 1871, Mr. Barlow was married to Sarah E. Hornaday, a daughter of Isaiah Hornaday, a farmer of Washington township, this county, and was one of eight children, five of whom are now living. To this union have been born eight children: William E., of Minneapolis, a teacher in the public schools, having charge of the manual training department in the South high school. He is married and the father of four children; Henry Dicker- son, a farmer on the old homestead in Washington township, has four chil- dren living; Walter Harvey, a farmer in Guilford township, has four chil- dren ; Myrtle, of Plainfield, who married Fred Brudford, a merchant of that city; Virgil M., who lives in Missouri, married Edith Anderson; Albert Paul, of Plainfield, a merchant, married Marie Hollingsworth; Harrison Porter, who died at the age of three years, and Mary S., the youngest in order of birth, who is attending college at Terre Haute, Indiana.
HUGH J. WOODY.
Fortunate is he who has back of him an ancestry honorable and dis- tinguished, and happy is he that his lines of life are cast in harmony there- with. Hugh J. Woody, a well known and progressive citizen of Pittsboro, Hendricks county, Indiana, has succeeded well at whatever he has attempted to do and, although he is a plain, conservative gentleman, no doubt if he had sought to be a leader of men and achieve public distinction, he would have found that nature had provided well for him in the way of the proper equip- ment and that he only needed to call into proper use the dormant faculties.
Hugh J. Woody. the manager of the grain elevator at Pittsboro, was born February 21, 1865, one mile south of Plainfield, in Guilford township, this county. His parents were Miller and Margaret (Lacey) Woody. Miller Woody was born in North Carolina on May 15, 1836, and died in Nowata, Oklahoma, January 13, 1909, at the age of seventy-two. He moved to Hen- dricks county at the age of fifteen years with his parents and on September 8, 1858, was married to Margaret Lacey, of Plainfield. He lived in this county for a number of years near Pittsboro and then moved to Oklahoma, in what was then called the Cherokee strip, in 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Miller Woody were the parents of seven children: Mrs. A. M. Hawkins, of Indianapolis ;
1
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H. J., of Pittsboro; Mrs. J. D. Reynolds, of Coffeyville, Kansas ; C. F. ; Mrs. Frank McCartney ; Mrs. A. H. Gillespey, and Walter, of Nowata, Oklahoma. Miller Woody died at the home of his son-in-law, A. H. Gillespey, who was an alderman in the city of Nowata, Oklahoma. Margaret Lacey, the wife of Miller Woody. was a native of this county and died in 1877.
Hugh J. Woody spent his boyhood days in this county and early in his twenties became associated in the grain elevator business at Pittsboro and has been identified with that industry for the past twenty-seven years, fifteen years of which he has been the general manager of the company at Pittsboro.
Mr. Woody was married December 4, 1890, to Cora E. Hedge, the daughter of Chester and Sarah (Gott) Hedge. Chester IIedge was born March 4. 1840, in Pulaski county, Virginia. After his death his widow mar- ried James Mallory Leak, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Hedge were the parents of five children: Cora E., the wife of Mr. Woody; Myrtle R .; Mary E., deceased; Ernest E. and Charles O. Mr. Hedge was a stanch Republican and a member of the Christian church, being a deacon in that denomination. He had an enviable war record, having en- listed in March, 1862, in Company F, Fortieth Regiment of Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, took part in the campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and among many other battles participated in the engagements of Resaca, Jonesboro, Mill Springs, New Hope Church, Peach Tree Creek, Dallas, Rocky Faced Ridge, Atlanta, Lost Mountain and Franklin. At the latter battle he was captured, but escaped by plunging into the river and diving, and, although he was shot at several times, he made his escape safely: He was mustered out in 1865 at Indianapolis and died January 8, 1912, at Riner, Virginia. He was a member of George A. Kendall Post No. 499, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lizton.
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