USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 74
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The funeral services were held in the church where he had so long been a devoted member, and were conducted by the Rev. Goodnight and Rev. Elvet E. Moorman and Rev. Edgar Fay Daugherty, a former pastor of the church,
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who delivered a sermon which was a masterpiece. The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Danville and the church was filled with relatives and hundreds of sympathizing and sorrowing friends. Mr. McCoun was prom- inent in all that counts for the ideal man. He had character of the highest type and stood for the best things. He was a part and parcel of those thoughts which are pure and his actions squared with his thoughts. He had the faculty of becoming interested in the daily affairs of the people about him and when one met him he felt at once that Mr. McCoun was genuinely sympa- thetic and sympathetically genuine. Some way or other one felt that there was just a little more sunshine in the world after he met him. Any move- ment that had for its object the betterment of his home town met with his hearty support. It can be truly said that his faith, his conscience, his purity, his spiritual service have passed from this world to the better world to come.
JOHN E. ENGLISH.
More than half a century has dissolved in the mists of the past since John E. English was born and during that momentous period he has wit- nessed and taken an active part in the general development of Hendricks county and is highly esteemed as one of its respected and worthy farmers, and during that time his integrity has never been questioned, nor has any- thing savoring in the least of dishonor ever attached to his name or reputa- tion. He has ever tried to measure up to the standard of correct manhood and Hendricks county is proud to number him among its representative men.
John E. English, the son of Myzeal and Malinda (Arnold) English, was born four and one-half miles north of Danville, Indiana, on March 30, 1856. Myzeal English was a native of New Jersey, as were his parents. He came to this county with them when he was about eight years of age. Jona- than English, the father of Myzeal, entered land near the town of Danville and here he lived until his death. Myzeal English received schooling in the subscription schools of that day, and from his boyhood up had an overwhelm- ing thirst for knowledge. When a mere youth he decided that he wanted to become a physician and with that end in view "read" medicine, as was the custom in those days, with some of the local physicians of his neighborhood. Afterwards he practiced in Hamilton and Boone counties for a number of years and later taught school in Center township for several terms. He was a man of great force of character and was one of the most influential men in
JOHN E. ENGLISH
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the community. In addition to being a practicing physician, school teacher and farmer, he was, for a long time, a justice of peace in Union township. Because of his reputation for honesty and uprightness, men with grievances preferred to have them tried before Doctor English. Doctor English had a farm a mile and a half south of Lizton, after his return from Boone county, and on this farm of ninety-seven and a half acres he spent his spare time. He was married in March, 1854, to Malinda Arnold. To this union were born six children: George, of Shelby county, Indiana; John, whose history is herein portrayed ; Mrs. Mary E. Jane Rutledge; Mrs. Sarah Helen Hamilton, deceased ; Mrs. Eva Ogle and Charles H. Doctor English was a Democrat his whole life, but never held any public office other than that of justice of peace. He died May 31, 1906, of paralysis on his farm south of Lizton. His wife died December 3, 1907.
John E. English was given a good education by his worthy father and assisted on the home farm until his marriage. He was married October 25, 1882, to Florence Talbott, the daughter of Willis and Nancy ( McCoun) Tal- bott. Willis Talbott was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and in that state married Nancy McCoun in November, 1840. In February, 1841, the young couple came to Hendricks county on horseback and settled first on a farm in the south part of Eel River township, where they lived a few years, then moved to the first farm south of the present home of Mr. English and here spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Talbott was born in 1811 and died in 1881 and his wife died in 1898. There were eleven children in the Tal- bott family: Aria, deceased; Mrs. Rachel Griffes, deceased; John T., de- ceased; Dr. Robert C., of California ; Nicholas L., deceased ; Charles W., of California ; Mrs. Mary L. Thomas, deceased; Nanny, deceased; Mrs. Scottie Sheets; Henry Clay, deceased, and Florence, the wife of Mr. English. Mr. and Mrs. English have two children, Mrs. Erie Inez Conn, deceased, and Willis M., who is salesman for the Stewart Talking Machine Company at Indianapolis. He married Helen Foore.
Mr. English is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Danville and the Knights of Pythias at Lizton. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Daughters of the Rebekah at Danville. While he has been a stanch Democrat all his life, he has confined his party activities to the cast- ing of his vote at election time. As a citizen of the community and as the head of the family, Mr. English has been true in every relation of life to his highest ideals, and in no situation has he fallen short of the full measure of
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men. He has always been found on the right side of all questions affecting the public welfare and his life has been a credit to the county honored by his citizenship.
RICHARD T. DORMAN.
The career of the well-known gentleman whose name forms the caption for this biographical memoir was a strenuous and varied one, entitling him to honorable mention among the representative citizens of his day and genera- tion in the county with which his life was so closely identified for so many years. Although he passed to the great beyond March 22, 1914, yet his in- fluence still pervades the lives of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who delighted to honor him. As a private citizen, as a man of business, as a valiant soldier of the Civil War, he was always true to himself and his fellow men, and the tongue of calumny never touched him. Although he had been in this country but two short years when the Civil War opened, he went to the front and fought as bravely for his adopted country as any of her native sons.
Richard T. Dorman, who lived a retired life in Indianapolis for about one year after a long and successful business career in Hendricks county, was born April 10, 1843, in Brighton, England. Both of his parents were natives of England, and his father, Richard, never came to America. After his father's death his mother, Ann (Kent) Dorman, came to this country with her five children, landing in New York in 1860. While Richard, the subject of this sketch, remained in New York for some time, his mother and the other children went on to Kansas, where the mother died several years ago. The five children are as follows: Richard T., the oldest one of the family; James, who is now living in Kansas; Alfred, deceased ; John, now a resident of Kan- sas ; and Henry, who lives in Washington.
Richard T. Dorman was seventeen years of age when he first saw the shores of this country and for the first eight months of his life in the New World he worked in the city of New York. In 1861 he came west and finally stopped in Hendricks county, Indiana, where he found employment on the farm of Jack Parker, a farmer living south of Pittsboro. He continued to work for him until September, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, Ninety- ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served until the close of the war and participated in thirteen engagements, among which were the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and all the battles which General Sherman fought in his famous campaign to the sea. At Dallas, Georgia, he
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was shot in the head on June 13, 1863, but his heavy cap saved him from fatal injury.
Mr. Dorman came back to Hendricks county after he was mustered out and at once enrolled as a student in the Northwestern Christian University at Indianapolis. After remaining in school for some time he was compelled to take up some occupation for a living and, getting an opportunity to learn the plasterer's trade, he took that up and followed it until 1875, when he started in the mercantile business at Pittsboro, in Hendricks county. He was very successful from the start and for the next thirty years he maintained a general store in that place. He was a worthy representative of that foreign- born element in our population which has played such an important part in the development of our state. During his long business career he not only gained the confidence of his fellow business men, but as a man of force of character, upright and honest in his dealings with his fellow citizens, he gained the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances in Hendricks county.
In 1902 Mr. Dorman sold his store at Pittsboro and removed to his farm in Putnam county, where he lived until 1911, but the call of the counter and the jingle of the cash register took him back into the business world again. He went to Elwood, Indiana, in 1911 and engaged in the mercantile business for eight months, but Father Time induced him to sell out and retire perma- nently from active business and he took his advice. He went to Indianapolis, where he lived until a few days before his death, when he moved to Browns- burg.
Mr. Dorman was married in 1873 to Seralda J. Dillon, who was born in Pittsboro. They are the parents of a very interesting family of ten children, all of whom are living but one. The children, in the order of their birth, are as follows: Ivan, of Martinsville, Indiana; Earl, who is an officer in the Fourth United States Cavalry, and now stationed in Hawaii; Erwin, of Montana; Ulrey, who is connected with the government survey service in New Mexico; Hubert, who is a solicitor for the Metropolitan Business Col- lege of Chicago; Clifford, who is now studying to be an electrical engineer ; and three who are still under the parental roof, Alma, Mina (now Mrs. I. C. Gharst) and Kent. Mr. and Mrs. Dorman had just pride in their children and gave them the best education obtainable. They are all making a success in life and reflect honor on their parents.
Mr. Dorman was a life-long Republican, but was never a candidate for any public office, feeling that his business affairs demanded all of his time. However, he always kept in touch with the current issues of the day and dis-
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cussed them intelligently .. He was a consistent adherent of the Christian church and always contributed to the support of that denomination. Person- ally, Mr. Dorman was a man of clean character and ever exerted a whole- some and healthful influence in the community, giving his support to every movement which promised to advance the welfare of the localities in which he lived.
CHARLES C. CLAY.
Charles C. Clay, the son of John J. Crittenden Clay and Mattie ( Walker) Clay, was born November 23, 1874, in Eel River township. this county. He was given a good common school education in the district schools of his home neighborhood, and early in life decided to devote his attention to agriculture and stock raising. His father had been a successful farmer and stock dealer and he worked with him until his marriage, and in this way received a prac- tical education along those lines which he intended to make his life work. He continued to reside for two years after his marriage on his father's farm and then bought a farm one and one-half miles west of North Salem, which, with forty acres that he had inherited from his grandmother, gave him a fine tract of two hundred and fifty-five acres. Here he lived for seven years. and then moved into North Salem, where he has since resided. He still manages his farm, but puts most of his attention to the buying and shipping of live stock in car load lots. He keeps his farm well stocked at all times by buying the cattle in the city markets and placing them on his farm for fatten- ing. In this way he makes use of all his own feed and grain which is raised on his land.
Mr. Clay was married in October, 1897, to Adina Emmons, daughter of James M. and Elizabeth ( Trotter) Emmons. Her father was born Octo- ber 28, 1828, in Giles county, Virginia, the son of Jehu and Sarah ( Hender- son) Emmons. When James M. was about eight years of age his parents moved to this state and located in Marion township, this county. About three years later they permanently located in Eel River township, where they lived the remainder of their lives. James M. Emmons was married in January, 1853, to Elizabeth Trotter, a native of this county and the daugh- ter of James and Sarah (Whitt) Trotter, early pioneers of Hendricks county. After his marriage, James M. lived at North Salem, where he followed the trade of a carpenter and became a prosperous contractor and builder, an oc- cupation which he followed the remainder of his life except when holding
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public office. In 1878 he was elected sheriff of Hendricks county and four years later was re-elected. Upon leaving the sheriff's office he bought a farm two miles south of North Salem, where he lived for ten years. He then sold his farm and moved to North Salem, where he has since lived. Mr. and Mrs. Emmons reared a family of eleven children, eight of whom are still living: Oscar, of North Salem; Jewel, of Indianapolis; Leonidas, of Texas; Eldred, of Nebraska; Sarah Catherine, the wife of Nathan Davis, of Denver, Colorado; Ida, the widow of Wilson Haynes; Gertrude. the wife of Thaddeus Banta, of Decatur, Illinois, and Adina, the wife of Mr. Clay. The mother of these children died September 6, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Emmons were both members of the Christian church.
Mr. Clay is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are both consistent members of the Christian church of their town. They are the parents of four children, Mary, Emmons, Josephine and John J. C. Mr. Clay is one of the sterling and substantial citizens of North Salem, a man whose strong qualities demand respect, and whose congenial manner has won him many friends.
SAMUEL SHERMAN WATERS.
It is not given to all men to do more than one thing and do it well, but in the case of Samuel S. Waters it is found that he has followed three dis- tinct professions and in each has given equally efficient and faithful serv- ice. Each position which he has held has called for special attainment and qualifications and in each case he has measured up to the full requirements of the position. For twenty-five years he was a successful school teacher in this county and then he entered the newspaper business at North Salem and in this was equally successful; later he was appointed postmaster of North Salem and as a result of civil service examination he holds this office as long as he performs his duties properly. With his superior qualifications and with his attention to his business, it means that he will hold this office as long as he lives, or until he resigns. His life has been a busy one.
Samuel Sherman Waters, son of Isaac B. and Elizabeth Ann (Watts) Waters, was born February 6, 1865, about three miles northeast of Browns- burg. The father, Isaac B. Waters, was born March 10, 1832, in Brown county, Ohio, and was the son of Philip and Lydia (Gardner) Waters. Philip Waters and his wife came to Hendricks county in 1834, when Isaac
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B. was two years of age, and entered one hundred and twenty acres of land on November 3, 1834. Philip Waters died in 1851, at the age of fifty-one, having been born in Brown county, Ohio, in 1800. His wife died in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Philip Waters were the parents of twelve children, Isaac being the only one who is living; the eleven deceased are as follows: Cary, Benja- min, Lucinda, Reynolds, Joseph, John, Raszilla, Matilda, and three who died in infancy. Isaac B. Waters was first married in 1858 to Elizabeth S. Walter, and to this union were born three children, two who died in infancy and Mrs. Fannie Williamson. Isaac B. Waters married his second wife, who was Elizabeth A. Watts, on November 19, 1863, and to this union were born five children, three dying in infancy, Samuel Sherman, whose history is herein given, and John T. Isaac Waters has lived in this county practically all of his life, spending two years, from 1865 to 1867. in Illinois. In addition to his farming, he was also a carpenter and cabinet-maker and in 1868 he went into the undertaking business. This he followed until 1904. when he transferred his business to his son John, who followed the same until 1913, when he sold out to W. C. Hicks. Isaac B. Waters was one of the progressive business men of Pittsboro. He built the block where he con- ducted his undertaking and furniture establishment, later selling this to Howard Stanley. He was very much interested in Masonry and had served seven terms as master of the Pittsboro lodge. He was justice of the peace for several years and was elected three times afterwards, but declined to serve. In addition to his career as a private citizen, he served a short time in the Civil War, enlisting October 1, 1864, in Company C. Twenty-fifth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and fought in the battles in North Carolina under Sherman in the spring of 1865. He was discharged June 10, 1865, at Washington, D. C., and mustered out in July following.
Samuel S. Waters has lived in this county all of his life with the excep- tion of two years when his parents were in Illinois. After graduating from the common schools, he attended the Central Normal College at Danville and then began teaching school in this county. For the next twenty years he was engaged in teaching at and near Pittsboro, Lizton and North Salem and was regarded as one of the most successful teachers of the county. In 1906 he bought the North Salem Herald of B. M. Pace and continued as editor for the next seven years. In 1909 he was appointed postmaster of North Salem and later took the civil service examination and, the office being in the fifth class, he will retain the position as long as his services are satisfactory. Two rural routes out of Pittsboro serve about three hundred rural patrons.
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In February, 1889, Mr. Waters was married to Ethel Wills, the daughter of J. M. and Alice (Dillon) Wills, of Pittsboro. To this marriage have been born two children, Horace Monroe and Mary Alice. Mr. Waters is a member of the North Salem lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. He has a pleasant and attractive home in Pittsboro,, where the spirit of genuine hos- pitality is always in evidence and where he and his wife delight to entertain their many friends. He has always been a man of public-spirited energy and while a resident of Pittsboro has given his hearty support to all move- ments of a public nature which were directed towards the welfare of the com- munity. He has been true to life in its every phase and the feeling of the community towards him is shown in the confidence and regard in which he is held by all who know him.
BERT A. WHITE.
Among the well-known and ppoular citizens of Hendricks county is Bert A. White, a business man of Brownsburg and the trustee of Lincoln township. He is a man who, by the exercise of his keen faculties, soundness of judgment and honest dealings with his fellow men, has earned a comfort- able competency and is justly deserving of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.
Bert A. White, the son of Vincent and Cassandra (Black) White, was born August 8, 1867, in the township where he has always made his home. Vincent White was a native of Kentucky, and when about six years of age came to Indiana with his parents, Asa and Margaret (Hunter) White, who settled in Hendricks county. Asa White was a wagon-maker by trade and first settled in Danville, where he operated a shop for a few years, but later purchased a farm and continued his wagon making on the farm for the rest of his life. He made the wagons at times when he was not able to work on the farm, and in this way added not a little to his annual income. Vincent White was reared on his father's farm and followed the occupation of a farmer all his life. After his marriage he lived on a farm near his father's place for a time and then moved to his wife's father's farm, where he lived twenty years. He is now living retired in Brownsburg. Cassandra Black, the wife of Vincent White, was born in Kentucky, coming here with her parents, John and Virginia (Campbell) Black, when she was a small child.
Bert A. White grew up near Brownsburg and has lived in the town of
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Brownsburg since he was twenty-one years of age. Most of his life he has been engaged in the meat business, and much of this time has conducted a meat shop in Brownsburg. He and his brother-in-law, Edgar Thompson, were in partnership for a time, and within ten years they sold and bought back their place of business several different times. From 1899 to 1903 Mr. White was a live-stock broker in the stock yards at Indianapolis, but again returned to Brownsburg, where he engaged in the meat business with his brother-in-law. Upon his return from Indianapolis he and his brother-in- law also operated a saw-mill for two years, afterwards selling the mill and engaging again in the meat business, which they continued until 1912, when Mr. White retired from this business altogether.
In 1908 Mr. White was elected as trustee of Lincoln township, and since 1912, when he closed out his meat business, has given his entire attention to the duties of this important office. Since the 1913 Legislature extended his term of office two years, he is still holding the office and his term will not expire until the end of 1914. He attends strictly to the various duties connect- ed with this position and is making a very competent and efficient official. There is no more important office in the United States than that of the humble trustee, and no other official handles as much real power as does he. He is both an administrative and legislative official and is practically the king within his own bailiwick.
Mr. White was married June 16, 1889, to Mary E. Thompson, the daugh- ter of Squire and Millicent (Griggs) Thompson, both of whom were born, reared and married near Richmond, Kentucky. Squire Thompson was the son of Jesse and Mary (Little) Thompson, both of whom lived and died in Kentucky, and his wife was the daughter of Martin and Eliza (Burgess) Griggs, who were also life-long residents of Kentucky. The Thompsons came to Indiana and settled in Hendricks county about 1870. Squire Thompson was a stock buyer and moved to Brownsburg about 1881, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1906. He was an active Republican and he and his wife are loyal and consistent members of the Christian church. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and was known as a very industrious and progressive man in every way. He was a public-spirited citizen, who was always on the alert for the welfare of his community. His wife died in 1905. Mr. and Mrs. White are the parents of four children : Bessie A., the wife of William H. Cosby, of Indianapolis, has one son, Harold; Nellie, William Leslie and Herbert, the last three named being still under the parental roof.
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Mr. White lends his support to the Democratic party at all times and has always been a prominent figure in the caucuses and conventions of his party. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Tribe of Ben-Hur, taking an active interest in the workings of these fraternal orders, while he and his wife are both loyal and consistent members of the Christian church, to which they give their zealous support. He and his wife have worked hard for their success and they made what they have honestly and they can claim a wide circle of friends here who rejoice with them in their prosperity. They started out in life without much in the way of worldly goods, but have work- ed hard together, have been economical and managed well and for this reason they have the entire respect and esteem of all who know them, for their lives have been above reproach and they are regarded as good neighbors and obliging friends.
PHILLIP B. HERRING.
The psalmist says that three score and ten years is the allotted span of man's life and yet there are scores of people living in Hendricks county who have passed that age and hundreds of others who are just approaching it. Among the latter is Phillip B. Herring, who was born in 1846 in Hendricks county, near Clayton. His parents were Azriah and Ellen (Beasley) Herring, both natives of Kentucky, who both came to this county in early days with their parents and were married at Belleville. Azriah Herring worked by the day at various kinds of employment for the first ten or twelve years after his marriage, when he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in the western part of Brown township. On this farm he lived for the next thirty years, when he sold it and bought another farm in the northwestern part of the same township, where he lived until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Azriah Herring reared a family of fourteen children.
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