USA > Indiana > Howard County > History of Howard County, Indiana, Vol II > Part 17
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Mr. Sweeney possessed a broad, inquiring mind and was keen- ly alive to everything that tended to improve labor conditions and benefit those upon whose shoulder fell the burden of making pos- sible the phenomenal progress resulting from the development and success of the industrial evolution in the central and western states during the past third of a century. Although modest and unas- suming and always easily approachable, he had a strong and vigor- ons personality and in the best sense of the term was a leader of men and well fitted to manage large and important enterprises. He was phenomenally resourceful, possessed boundless and tireless en- ergy, and once finding the field of endeavor which challenged his mind forces he displayed that tenacity of purpose and unconquer- able will power which led on to success and fortune. In the prose- cution of his business interests he was bold and daring and never
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hesitated to move forward, though frequently confronted by ob- stacles that wouldt have discouraged many of a less determined na- ture. He had a genius for large undertakings, and what others would have deemed rashness was to him the safe and sure way of reaching conclusions and achieving the results which made his name familiar in business circles and gained for him the honorable repu- tation for which he was long distinguished among the leaders of industry in his adopted state.
Always a very busy man with large and important interests at stake, Mr. Sweeney found time to devote to healthful sport and rec- reation, having been a great admirer of the national game of base- ball and a lover of the horse and a patron of the race track. For a number of years he kept animals of good pedigree and notable speed. and as a race starter he was quite popular on the circuits, his fairness commending him to the leading turfmen of the country and his decisions being satisfactory to all who made entries. He re- tained his interest in these forms of sport to the end of his days. keeping in touch with the turf throughout the entire country, and such was his liking and enthusiasm for baseball that he seldom failed to be present whenever a first-class game was played within a rea- sonable distance of his place of abode.
Mr. Sweeney was married in Kokomo. Indiana, to Belle El- son on November 3. 1891. She was the daughter of William B. and Florence ( Garr) Elson, of Howard county, the father for many years a successful farmer but later a resident of Kokomo, where his death occurred in 1893, at the age of fifty-five years. Mrs. Sweeney was born and reared in Howard county. received her edu- cation in the city schools and is a lady of high social standing, an esteemed member of the Christian church, and is exceedingly pop- ular in the circles in which she moves. She bore her husband one child, Harry Lambert Sweeney, who is now a bright and interesting youth of eleven years and a pupil in the schools of Kokomo.
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Mr. Sweeney was born and reared a Catholic and always re- tained a warm feeling and abiding interest in the mother church, though by no means narrow or intolerant in his religious views. He belonged to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he served as exalted ruler and was enthusiastic in all matters con- cerning the society, contributing much to its popularity and strength in the city of Kokomo. The death of this useful man and promi- nent, public-spirited citizen occurred on the 5th day of October. 1907, and his funeral was held under the auspices of the order with which he had long been identified and the interests of which he had long been identified and had so much at heart, being the occasion of a large gathering of his friends and fellow citizens, by whom he was sincerely mourned and greatly missed. His passing removed from the city one of its leading men of affairs and left a vacancy in the business world which it will be difficult to fill. In the widest and best sense of the term his life was a pronounced success, as he always measured up to the high standard of citizenship required by men of his stamp, served well and faithfully his day and generation. and the memory of his useful career and honorable name will long remain in the hearts and affections of those with whom his lot was cast and who was so greatly benefited by his example and influence.
MILES J. RHOADES.
As long as history endures will the American nation acknowl- edge its indebtedness to the heroes who between 1861 and 1865 fought for the preservation of the Union and the honor of that starry banner which has never been trailed in the dust of defeat in a single polemic struggle in which the country has been involved. Among those whose military records as valiant soldiers of the war
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of Rebellion reflect lasting honor upon them and their descendants is the subject of this sketch, who is one of the honored and influ- ential citizens of Jackson township. Howard county, Indiana, where he has long maintained his home and won an honored name by vir- tue of his consistency to truth, honesty and right living. Therefore he is eminently qualified for a place in the present volume.
Miles J. Rhoades was born in Randolph county, Indiana, Sep- tember 28, 1841, the son of Miles and Margaret ( Roe) Rhoades. both having come to Randolph county from North Carolina and entered land in the former place. The father walked from Ran- dolph county to Fort Wayne. Indiana, to enter his land. They made the long trip from North Carolina to Indiana in a one-horse cart. the time required to make the trip being seven weeks. They came across the Blue Ridge mountains, carrying all their possessions in the cart, using this scant furniture when they began housekeeping in Indiana. Mrs. Rhoades stopped with the cart a while in Wayne county and Mr. Rhoades went ahead and entered the land. They later came to Howard county in 1860, where they spent the rest of their days, Mr. Rhoades dying in 1865 and his widow surviving until 1885. They were people of the most sterling qualities, of the true and typical pioneer type, who braved the dangers and vicissi- tudes of a new country under the most unfavorable advantages, but they surmounted all obstacles and established a comfortable home.
Miles J. Rhoades, our subject, was united in marriage in Feb- ruary, 1867. to Isabelle Orr, who was born in Ohio, but came to Peru, Indiana, when a young lady and made her home with an uncle, Oliver Macey. Later the family moved to Converse. Indiana, where Mrs. Rhoades was married and where her mother took up her residence and passed to her rest February 10. 1908. Her father, Reuben Orr, died in Ohio when Mrs. Rhoades was a child. To this union seven children were born, all of whom are living at the time of this writing. They are William, Charles, Clinton D., Jennie.
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Nannie B., Frank and Pearl. They all received a common school education and are very comfortably situated in life.
Mr. Rhoades is the owner of a fine farm consisting of one hundred and twenty acres in section 1. He bought out all the heirs to this estate. This farm shows that a man of thrift, energy and sound judgment manages it, and it yields a comfortable living from year to year. The dwelling is substantial, comfortable and nicely furnished, and the outbuildings on the place are also first- class. Mr. Rhoades feeds the major part of his corn to stock on the place, always keeping a good class of live stock, being especially fond of good horses.
Feeling that it was his duty to sever home ties and do what he could in defense of his country's integrity. Mr. Rhoades enlisted in Company C. of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1865 and was with General Thomas at Nashville, where he received a sun-stroke which has disabled him ever since and has resulted in partial deafness. He took part in the great battle fought at Nashville between Hood's and Thomas' forces. As a result of his defective hearing he receives twenty-seven dollars pension per month. But notwithstanding this affliction our patriotic subject does not regret his service to his country.
Mr. Rhoades takes much interest in the affairs of his children. Frank, the youngest of the boys, is married to Bertha Leisure and they are the parents of one winsome child, Lola, born August 27, 1904. Frank is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Con- verse, Indiana, as are also his brothers, and he makes his home in Elwood. Charles P .. another of the sons, lives with the subject on the farm, managing the place and assisting in the affairs of the farm in general. He is a Mason, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, belonging to these orders at Converse.
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Miles J. Rhoades is in his fraternal relations a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the lodge at Converse. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never aspired to positions of public trust at the hands of his fellow citizens; however, his support is always for the best man in the county offices, and for many years he has taken much interest in all movements looking to the better- ment of his township and county. He has always led a quiet. honest and well regulated life, which has gained for him the respect of a host of admiring friends who regard him as one of the leading citizens of Howard county.
WILLIAM F. MANN.
William F. Mann, the present official engineer of Kokomo, is a son of John and Barbara Mann, the father a native of Monroe county, West Virginia, where his birth occurred on the Ist of Au- gust. 1822, the mother born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, to which part of the Old Dominion state her parents. Andrew and Barbara ( Thurman ) Fettie, removed many years ago from Pennsyl- vania. After remaining in the state of his birth until 1837, John Mann accompanied his parents upon their removal to Henry county. Indiana, where, during the ensuing thirteen years he supported him- self as a farm laborer. but at the expiration of that period he came to Howard county and located on eighty acres of woodland in what is now Union township, which he had purchased a few years pre- vious and which under his labor was in due time cleared and trans- formed into one of the finest farms and most attractive rural homes in that section of the country. John Mann and Barbara Fettie be- came husband and wife in the year 1848, two years before their re-
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moval to their new home in the backwoods of Howard county. their union being blessed with two children, a daughter by the name of Christina, who is now the wife of J. G. Brown, and William F .. whose name introduces this sketch.
William F. Mann was born on the home place in Union town- ship. As soon as old enough to be of service he was put to work in the woods and during the years that followed he did his part in clearing and developing the farm, devoting the spring, summer and fall to study in the district school not far from his home. After ob- taining a good common school education he entered the Spiceland Academy where he prosecuted his studies until completing the pre- scribed course and graduating in 1875, following which he turned his attention to teaching and was thus engaged during the ensuing five winter seasons, spending the rest of the time reading law in the office of O'Brien & Garrigus, at Kokomo. He subsequently entered the law department of Michigan University where in due time he finished his professional course and received his degree, being grad- uated with a creditable record with the class of 1882. Returning to Kokomo he was nominated for county surveyor on the Repub- lican ticket, and at the ensuing election defeated his competitor by a large majority and at the proper time entered upon the duties of his office. . At the expiration of his first term he was honored by a re- nomination, his victory at the polls following on account of his fit- ness for the office. Since retiring from the office of county surveyor he has been continuously engaged as a civil engineer in Howard and other counties and wherever employed his professional work has been eminently satisfactory to all parties concerned.
In 1902 Mr. Mann was appointed official engineer for the city of Kokomo for a term of four years and so well did he discharge the duties of the position that he was chosen his own successor in
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1906 for an additional four years' term, which he is now serving with credit to himself and justice to the public.
Mr. Mann has been an active worker in the Republican ranks. He is a Mason of high standing and is also identified with the Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Mann has never assumed the duties and responsibilities of married life. He looked after his father's interests until the lat- ter's death on October 22d of the year 1903, since which time he has given considerable attention to his widowed mother, to whose wel- fare he is devoted and whose business affairs he manages with the fidelity becoming a true and manly son. She is now living with her great-grandson on the old family homestead in Union township to which she came when the country was new and on which she has resided continuously for a period of forty-eight years.
FRANK KORBY.
It was once remarked by a celebrated moralist and biographer "that there has scarcely passed a life of which a judicious and faith- ful narrative would not have been useful." Believing in the truth of this opinion, expressed by one of the greatest and best of men. the writer of this review takes pleasure in presenting a few facts in the career of a gentleman who, by industry, perseverance, temper- ance and integrity, has worked himself from an humble station to a successful business man and won an honorable position among the well known and highly esteemed men of the city in which he resides.
Frank Korby, son of Peter and Henrietta ( Schindler) Korby. was born February 1. 1877. in Floyd county, Indiana, and spent his
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early life on the farm where he first saw the light of day. Like the majority of country lads, he became familiar with the duties of agriculture as soon as old enough to be of service and when not busy in the fields attended the district school of his neighborhood where he received a fair knowedge of the English branches. While still a youth he laid plans for the future and it was not long until he was enabled to carry the same into effect by entering a cigar factory at New Albany, Indiana, where in due time he became a skillful workman, besides attaining a knowledge of business which subsequently proved of great practical value when he started an es- tablishment of his own. In casting about for a favorable location in which to engage in business upon his own responsibility. Mr. Korby was attracted to the live and enterprising city of Kokomo as possessing the requisite advantages, accordingly in September, 1897. he came to this place and at once began the manufacture and sale of cigars which he has continued with gratifying success to the present time, buikling up the meanwhile a large and lucrative patronage and establishing an honorable reputation as an energetic and progres- sive man of affairs. He is now proprietor of the leading cigar fac- tories in the city, gives employment to a number of skilled workmen and by close attention and careful. management has accumulated a comfortable competency, owning valuable real estate in the city to say nothing of personal property, his various hoklings placing him in independent circumstances and giving him a place among the sub- stantial and well-to-do citizens of the community.
Mr. Korby has gained considerable local prominence in public affairs and political circles and his interest in the same led to his ap- pointment in 1907 to the city council to fill out the unexpired term of a former member, taking his seat on February 15th of that year as a representative of the fourth ward. As a local legislator he has demonstrated sound judgment and business ability of a high order
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and since entering the body he has been untiring in his efforts to ad- vance the city's interests, serving on a number of important com- mittees and presenting measures which have been a decided benefit to the municipality. He is a firm and loyal Republican, active and influential in the counsels of his party and familiar with the lead- ing public questions and issues of the day on all of which he has de- cided opinions and the courage of his convictions.
Mr. Korby is a man of domestic tastes and has a comfortable home presided over by a lady of intelligence and gracious presence who was born July 12, 1879. in Harrison county, Indiana. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Korby was Margaret Smith, who first met her future husband in the city of New Albany where in due time their nuptials were celebrated. Mr. and Mrs. Korby have two children that have survived infancy, a son, Edgar and a daughter by the name of Lillian, both bright and interesting and adding much sin- shine and happiness to the little home circle.
Mr. Korby is a member of the Cigar Makers' Union and takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to organized labor. being a warm friend of the toiler and an earnest advocate of measures for his advancements. He is also identified with the fraternal orders of Red Men. Foresters, Owls and Eagles, in all of which his efforts have been influential and effective and in most of which he has been honored at different times with important official positions. In re- ligion he was reared a Catholic and has ever been a true and loyal son of the Holy Mother church, of which body his wife is also a faithful and consistent member.
Although comparatively young Mr. Korby has come rapidly to the front and is now one of the most enterprising and highly es- teemed residents of his adopted city. His industry and energy have become proverbial and though deeply immersed in business he finds time to discharge the duties of citizenship and may properly he termed a leader of the circles in which he moves.
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EPHRAIM RINEHART, M. D.
The man who devotes his talents and energies to the noble work of ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity is pursuing a calling which in dignity, importance and beneficial results is second to no other. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, he is indeed a bene- factor of his kind. for to him more than to any other man, are in- trusted the safety, the comfort and in many instances the lives of those who place themselves under his care and profit by his services. It is gratifying to note in the series of personal sketches appearing in this work that there remain identified with the professional, public and civic affairs of Howard county many who are native sons of the county and who are ably maintaining the prestige of honored names. Of this number Dr. Rinehart, who is prominent among the physicians and surgeons, who is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Plevna, is one of the representative men of the county, and is regarded as standing in the front rank of her profes- sional men, having been engaged in the noble art of medical science and surgery within her borders for many years, during which time he has not only gained wide notoriety in his chosen calling but also established a sound reputation for uprightness and noble character in all the relations of life.
Dr. Ephraim Rinehart was born in Howard county, Indiana, November 10, 1860, the son of John and Nancy ( Brubaker ) Rine- hart. the former now deceased. They are described as people of many admirable traits and their wholesome influence has had a marked effect upon the subsequent life of our subject.
Dr. Rinehart was reared on a farm in Ervin township. having remained on the old homestead until he became of age. attending the district schools and working with his father in the meantime for
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several years. Being ambitious and a close student he laid a thor- ough foundation for a broad education which he has subsequently availed himself of. He read medicine with Dr. Flora, of Russia- ville, Indiana, and entered the Eclectic Medical school at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1893, and was graduated at the American Medical College at Indianapolis in 1896, having made a splendid record for scholar- ship in both institutions.
.After leaving school Dr. Rinehart located in Carroll county, Indiana, remaining there two years, when, much to the regret of a large clientele he moved to Forest, Indiana. remaining there two years and building up a lucrative practice in the meantime. Desir- ing a broader field in which to exercise his talents he came to Indian- apolis, practicing with success for some time ; but there occurring an excellent opening at Russiaville, he located there, however, remain- ing only a short time. He located then at Plevna. December 2, 1900, where he has since remained, building up an excellent practice, in fact, the doctor is kept busy all the time not only caring for his num- erous patients in that vicinity, but also often responding to im- portant calls from outlying districts on serious cases, being called from time to time in consultation with other practitioners on se- rious cases, and his advice is always followed with gratifying results.
Dr. Rinehart has specialized to some extent on cancers, and he has had a wonderful success on these baffling diseases, having re- moved them when all others failed. He has gained much fame among the eminent medical men of the state by virtue of his phe- nomenal skill in handling cancer cases.
Dr. Rinehart was first married to Lydia MI. Eikenberry. a rep- resentative of an old and influential family, and two bright and in- teresting children were born to this union, namely: Marie and Russell, ages eighteen and sixteen, respectively. in 1908.
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The doctor's first wife passed to her rest in 1900, and he was again married in the fall of 1901. his second wife having been known in her maidenhood as Cora Drayer, a native of Howard county, and a woman of gracious personality and pleasing address.
The subject has always voted the Republican ticket, but has never been active in politics.
Dr. Rinehart is a pleasant gentleman, honest and upright at all times and he is not only held in high esteem for his superior pro- fessional ability but for his public-spirited nature, his wholesome private and social life, and he is fast becoming one of Howard county's most noted and influential men.
ISAAC P. DRAPER.
The prosperity and substantial welfare of a city are in a large measure due to the enterprise and wise foresight of its business men. It is progressive, wideawake men of affairs that make the real his- tory of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. The well known gentle- man of whom the biographer writes in this connection has long ranked among the leading business men of Kokomo, and it is to such enterprising spirits as he that the city is indebted for its recent substantial growth and for the high position it occupies as a center of industrial activity and progress. To Mr. Draper also belongs the credit of having served his country faithfully during one of the greatest wars of which history has made record and as a member of the gallant army that crushed the hosts of treason and made im- possible any further recurrence of rebellion he is entitled to the re- spect and honor of every citizen living under the folds of the Amer- ican flag.
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Isaac P. Draper is a native of Sullivan county, Indiana, where his birth occurred on the 24th of May, 1848, being the son of John B. and Elizabeth ( Voorhees) Draper, the former born in Ohio, the latter in the Hoosier state. John B. Draper came to Indiana with his parents in an early day and settled in Sullivan county when that part of the state was on the verge of civilization. His father took up and improved a large tract of land and in due time became one of the most extensive holders of real estate in the county, the greater part of his possessions being subsequently divided among his chil- dren, each of whom received a farm. John Draper grew to maturity in Sullivan county and when a young man accepted a clerkship in the town of Sullivan, his experience as a salesman afterwards en- abling him to engage in merchandising upon his own responsibility. By energy and good management, together with his ability to please his customers, he soon acquired a lucrative patronage. and in the course of a few years his business house was the largest of the kind in the town, as well as the most successful. He was identified with the commercial interests and general growth and prosperity of Sullivan for a period of fifty-four years, during which time he not only achieved marked financial success as a capable, farseeing busi- ness man, but rose to an influential position as a public-spirite.l citizen who ever had at heart the advancement of the community and wel- fare of his kind. He lived to see his town transformed from a mere backwoods hamlet into one of the most prosperous cities of its size in the state of Indiana, and after a long and useful career. fraught with much good to his fellow men, he departed this life on January 13. 1908, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. John Draper was married four times and became the father of sixteen children. several of whom became actively identified with their own and other communities and achieved honorable standing as citizens.
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