USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 11
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Mr. Bartlett was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, in June, 1869, and is a son of William P. Bartlett, a prosperous farmer of New Hampshire, the state of his birth, and where he died in August, 1913.
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His wife and the mother of Bert J. Bartlett of this review, was Martha Ladona S. (Flower) Bartlett, also a native of New Hampshire and now deceased.
As boy and youth in the New Hampshire home of his parents, Bert Bartlett attended the public schools, and gained such education as they were fitted to afford in those early days of American education. He remained on the farm until he was twenty, then came west, as Indiana is reckoned in New Hampshire, and settled in Columbia City. There he became interested in the lumber business, remaining at that point for six years, at which time he disposed of his lumber interests and came to Huntington. In this city he formed a business association with a Mr. Perine, and engaged again in the lumber business under the firm name of Perine & Bartlett, and at the end of another six years of lumber- ing activity, sold out and engaged in the trucking and transfer business. At the same time he began to operate more or less in coal, and a little later entered the storage field, erecting a cement block building with a forty by two hundred foot front, the building being calculated for the storage of all materials requiring a chilled temperature. The trans- fer and trucking business, however, is the branch of his enterprise to which he has given the closest attention, and he has in that line built up an extensive business, having in his employ a large number of men and teams.
In addition to the interests already named Mr. Bartlett is one of the directors of the Factory Fund Association, organized on February 22, 1907, at a special meeting called for the purpose of interesting a num- ber of the leading citizens of the city, and the purpose of the organiza- tion being the raising of a fund to bring to the City of Huntington new manufacturing enterprises. The capital stock of the Association was placed at $50,000, all of which was subscribed by leading citizens. This Association has been the direct means of securing and locating a number of industries of no slight importance, reference to which will be found elsewhere in this work, under the heading "Huntington's Industries." At a special meeting of the Association Mr. Bartlett was chosen presi- dent, with C. B. Williams as vice-president, O. W. Whitelock, secretary and Julius Dick as treasurer. The organization has for its support a goodly number of the leading business men of Huntington, and it is not too much to say that it has been the direct cause of the influx of a considerable capital and a number of desirable men who came in the wake of the new enterprises. Mr. Bartlett has shown himself in this work especially to be a man of progress and one who looks beyond the present day and its needs in the administration of any business enterprise. His civic attitude has throughout been most admirable, and places him among the real men of the community.
In 1896 Mr. Bartlett was united in marriage with Miss Frances F. Severance, a daughter of Dr. LaGrange and Henrietta (Drummond) Severance. Two children have been born to them,-Fred L. and Helen E. Bartlett, both of whom are in school.
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OSCAR E. BRADLEY. Hand in hand, in public usefulness, is the druggist associated with the physician and this mutual dependence is universally acknowledged as a condition of public safety. Healing remedies are older than doctors, and as far back as one may delve in ancient lore he may find mention of medicaments for some of the ills that seem to have always afflicted the human race. At times, the discovery of a new drug has wrought wonderful changes and has been even a factor in advancing civilization. Out of the hands of the ignorant and the superstitious, the lawful administration of drugs has long since passed, and the term druggist or pharmacist now means one who has thoroughly satisfied the authorities that he is properly equipped and learned to practice his calling. Into his hands are practically placed life and death, for it is his knowledge of drugs and their effects that must guide him in the handling of the most careful of physicians' prescriptions, for his accuracy of measurement may change a tonic into a death draught. Thus it is no unimportant position that a druggist holds in a community and his personal standing is usually of the highest. In this connection a case in point is found in Oscar E. Bradley, junior member of the drug firm of Bradley Brothers, one of the largest concerns of its line in the Hoosier state, with main store at Huntington, and branches at Marion and Fort Wayne. Mr. Bradley is one of the leading business men of his adopted city, Huntington, and a review of the salient points of his career shows that his business life has been one of steady advancement from early manhood.
Oscar E. Bradley was born in Miami county, Indiana, June 2, 1865, the second son of John and Margaret (Sharp) Bradley. His father, born near Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, was a manufacturer and dealer in hardwood lumber and also dealt extensively in timberlands. In 1867 the family moved from Ohio to Waupecong, Miami county, Indiana, and there the father engaged in farming for a time and also operated a saw- mill in the manufacture of hardwood lumber. This latter industry he continued to operate long years after he had given up agricultural pur- suits, and subsequently became also the proprietor of a general store. By reason of his strict integrity, honorable dealing and well-directed efforts, he became one of the substantial men of his locality, and at the time of his death, in 1880, left a wide circle of friends to mourn his loss. The mother had passed away some years before.
Oscar E. Bradley received his early education in the public schools of Miami county, and later he studied for a short time in a select school, but finally laid aside his books to join his father in the sawmill. He was but sixteen years of age when his father died, and he was left in charge of the mill, which he continued to operate for several years. Upon settling up the business, he went to Peru, Indiana, and worked in a basket factory as a shipping clerk, and while residing there, in his twenty-first year, was married to Miss Nettie Jones, of Amboy, Indiana, daughter of John Jones, an active business men of that locality. After his marriage, Mr. Bradley remained in Peru for only one year and then went to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and secured employment with C. Crane & Company, manu-
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facturers of and dealers in lumber, but in 1893 returned to Indiana. At that time he formed a partnership with his elder brother, Charles E. Bradley, and under the firm style of Bradley Brothers engaged in the drug business at Wabash. There the firm continued until 1897, when it made its advent in Huntington, this city having since continued as headquarters. The business proved a success from the start, and in 1899 a branch business was established at Marion, which is still conducted under a manager, and in 1908 a branch was located at Fort Wayne and placed under the management of Mr. Bradley's son, John Hale Bradley. Oscar E. Bradley spends the greater part of his time at the Huntington store, but has various outside interests, being a stockholder in the First National Bank of Huntington, the Majestic Furnace and Foundry Com- pany of this city, and the Auto Transit Company, also of Huntington. He is widely known in business circles and has the utmost confidence of his associates, who look to him for leadership, counsel and advice in all matters of importance. He is prominent in Masonry, belonging to Amity Lodge No. 483, F. & A. M., Huntington Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M .; and also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, all of Huntington. In his political affiliation Mr. Bradley gives his stal- wart support to democratic measures and candidates, although he has not cared for the activities of public life for himself. His residence is located at No. 508 West State street.
CHARLES H. KIRACOFE. Though no longer a resident of Huntington county, the career of Charles H. Kiracofe has a pertinent place in this work for his connection with the educational interests of the county, due especially to his efforts in the establishment and conduct of Central Col- lege, located at College Park, north of Huntington. For upwards of forty years he was active in educational and religious affairs, and is still keenly interested in educational matters, though living retired, and hav- ing his home at Winona Lake.
Charles H. Kiracofe is a native of the mountainous district fourteen miles north of Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia. His parents were John and Margaret (Showalter) Kiracofe, descendants of Hessian par- entage, which was established in America during the Revolutionary times, and after the close of the war located in Virginia. Charles H. Kiracofe had seven brothers and one sister. His early life was spent on a farm, and such schooling as was afforded him made him eager for further learning. During the early part of the Civil war he lived within the Confederate lines, and one year was spent in chopping wood for a Confederate iron works. His drafting for service in the Confederate army was only a question of a few months and to escape such service he and an older brother were among a large party of Virginians, who made their way through the mountains in 1863 to the north. The story of their adventuresome journey made mostly during the night time in order to escape capture by southern soldiers, was told by Mr. Kiracofe in a paper read several years ago before the Cosmopolitan Club of Hunt- ington.
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After reaching the homes of some relatives near Lima, Ohio, and after recovering not only from the hardships of travel, but also from the rav- ages of typhoid fever, which he had contracted at Parkersburg, West Virginia, as a result of exposure, Mr. Kiracofe worked on a farm, and by attending school during the winter prepared himself for teaching. His wages as teacher of a district school afforded him the means by which, with the closest economy and by work out of school hours, he was enabled to complete his studies and gain the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Otterbein University at Westerville, Ohio, in 1871. During his college career he became acquainted with Miss Anvilla Rundles. Miss Rundles was a member of a class one year ahead of Mr. Kiracofe, and after grad- uating spent a year as principal of the high school at Warsaw, Indiana. As soon as he was graduated Mr. Kiracofe and Miss Rundles were mar- ried. She was a daughter of a well-known family living near Hunter- town, in Allen county, Indiana. After their marriage they both taught school for one year at Edgerton, Ohio. The following year Mr. Kiracofe, who had also been granted a license as a minister for the United Brethren in Christ, was in charge of a circuit near Waterloo, Indiana. While during his active career he did much work in the active ministry, his heart always lay in the educational side of church affairs, and it is as an educator that his career has been most fruitful.
In 1873 Mr. Kiracofe became professor of languages at Westfield College at Westfield, Illinois. His home and work continued at Westfield until 1879, when he accepted a call to the presidency of Hartsville Col- lege in Bartholomew county, Indiana. Hartsville College retained him as its head until 1889. During that time he supervised the work of instruction and also spent much time in the field soliciting funds and working otherwise in behalf of the church's educational interests. These years were probably the most trying of his life, the institution being a struggling one, which, however, turned out men who are found in posi- tions of responsibility in many places.
In 1889 Rev. Kiracofe moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he became sec- retary of the Board of Missions of the United Brethren church. The next four years he was editor of the Christian Conservator, the organ of the radical branch of the church which had divided in 1889. Once more the educational work made its appeal to him, and in 1897 he was named to take charge of the movement to locate a college in Huntington, Indiana. This new institution was designed to be a successor to Harts- ville College, with a site much more accessible than the old school in Bartholomew county had been. Under his direction and personal work plans for the new institution were matured, and his personal efforts brought about the sale of the required number of lots to close the deal with the land company, from which had come a proposition for the location of the institution on a beautiful tract north of Huntington. Central College was dedicated with proper ceremony in September, 1897. Quickly there sprung up a small town about the college campus, and it prospered in population and improvement from year to year. Many people came here from different places to identify themselves with
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the college community as permanent residents, or while educating their younger children. Rev. Kiracofe's work as president continued until June, 1903, and at the same time he had entered actively into the work of instruction, having charge of several classes. On retiring from the presidency, Rev. Kiracofe was succeeded by James H. McMurray. The next few months were spent in editorial duties with the Christian Con- servator, the church publishing house having in the meantime been moved from Dayton to Huntington soon after the establishment of Central College. After a year of rest, fecling that he was too young to retire, and being always a believer in the saying that it is "better to wear out than to rust out," Rev. Kiracofe accepted a pastorate in the Presby- terian church near New Albany, Indiana. During the previous year hc had exchanged his membership from the United Brethren to the Presby- terian faith. Since that time he has filled pastorates at Walkerton, Indiana, and in churches near Logansport and Wabash, at the same time having his permanent residence at Winona Lake.
In politics Mr. Kiracofe was a republican for a number of years, later associating himself with the prohibition party, on whose ticket he was at one time candidate for state superintendent of public instruc- tion during the eighties. More recently he has been independent in his political affiliations. Despite his years and retirement from active work, he still retains a keen interest in matters of education.
Rev. and Mrs. Kiracofe were the parents of five sons, two of whom are now living, C. Horace and Alvin R., both residents of Huntington.
C. HORACE KIRACOFE. Now engaged in the insurance business at Huntington as a member of the firm of Schwartz & Kiracofe, Mr. Horace Kiracofe is most generally known throughout Huntington county on account of his long experience in the Huntington newspaper field. As a publisher and, editor he made a record for the energetic handling of what is regarded as one of the most difficult undertakings in business, and in many ways has proved his efficient and public spirited citizenship in behalf of a better and greater city of Huntington.
C. Horace Kiracofe, the older son of Charles H. and Anvilla (Rundles) Kiracofc, the former a well known educator and founder of Central College at Huntington, was born July 25, 1876, at Westfield, Clark county, Illinois. Three years after his birth his parents moved by the overland route to Hartsville in Bartholomew county, Indiana, where his father became president of Hartsville College. Educated by his mother until ten years of age, he entered the Hartsville College and continued preparatory and college studies until the removal of the family to Dayton, Ohio, in 1889. There he became a student in the old Central high school, being graduated in June, 1893. After another year spent at Hartsville College he entered Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio, where he was given the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June, 1898.
Though his plan had been to prepare himself as a teacher of lan- guages, his purposes were changed in the junior ycar at Oberlin and his talents and energies directed to newspaper work. His first regular
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experience in practical journalism was as a proofreader on the Illinois State Journal at Springfield, Illinois, where he lived several months. In July, 1899, Mr. Kiracofe became city editor of the Huntington News- Democrat, the Kiracofe family having located at Huntington in July, 1897. In November, 1905, Mr. Kiracofe bought stock in the Huntington Herald, and he took the chair of city editor for that publication. In 1910 he became manager of the Herald, and in 1911, combined the duties of both manager and editor. That was his work until his financial and business connection with the company terminated in September, 1911, and in the following December he retired from all relations with the Herald. Since January 1, 1912, Mr. Kiracofe has been associated with William Schwartz in the insurance business, and they represent the general field of fire and life insurance.
On October 14, 1903, Mr. Kiracofe married Miss Matilda J. Kuhlman, whose father, Frederick Kuhlman, was one of the pioneer plasterers of Huntington county. A son, Melville Kuhlman Kiracofe, was born to their marriage May 24, 1908.
Mr. Kiracofe has never been prominent in politics, though during his newspaper career every matter of public interest received his attention, and through his paper he did much to advance the improvement of the city. He had charge of the contest in which "Huntington-Oppor- tunity's Gateway," was chosen as the slogan for Huntington. In church affairs he is identified with the Presbyterian denomination, having held the places of elder and Sunday school superintendent in the local con- gregation since 1908. His home property at Oak and Tipton Streets in Huntington has been regarded as one of the neat places of moderate cost in the city.
CHARLES L. BUCHANAN. All his life a resident of Huntington, Indiana, Charles L. Buchanan enjoys an enviable position in the citizenship of his native town and county, and as a business man of ยท no small merit he ranks among the foremost. He has long been con- nected with the enterprise that now holds his attention, or perhaps it might be better to say that he has been identified with his present enterprise since he finished his public school course and entered the business with his father. Following his father's demise in 1907, young Buchanan assumed charge of the plumbing and heating business that had so long been conducted in Huntington by the Buchanans, and he has since continued with the business.
Charles Buchanan was born in Huntington on July 11, 1885, and he is the eldest son of Samuel and Catherine (Ryan) Buchanan. Samuel Buchanan was a native of Perry county, Ohio, born there on March 12, 1833, and he was the sixth son in a family of eight children born to John and Mary A. (Dempsey) Buchanan, natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively. When he was but a child of three years the parents of Samuel Buchanan came to Indiana and located in a little hamlet which has since developed into the city of Huntington. Here Samuel Buchanan was reared to manhood, and here he passed his long and useful life.
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Conditions in the community at that time did not conduce to over- much learning, and Samuel Buchanan was blessed with a very meagre education as a result. But he was a studious boy, fond of books, and such as came to his hand were devoured with the avidity that is charac- teristic of the natural book-lover. It was thus that he gained the smatter- ing of learning that aided him in business life.
He was fifteen years old when in the autumn of 1848 he began to learn the trade of a printer under Colonel Milligan, then editor and publisher of the Democratic Age, and when he had completed his appren- ticeship he devoted himself for about five years to the trade of a journey- man printer. In later years, when the field for heating and plumbing opened up, Mr. Buchanan diverted his attention from the printing busi- ness to the newer enterprise, and he was long a successful operator in the business, continuing therein until death claimed him on March 23, 1907.
Mr. Buchanan was married in 1884 to Catherine Ryan, daughter of Thomas Ryan, well known among the early pioneers of Huntington county, and a man who stood well in the esteem of all who knew him. Mrs. Buchanan still survives her husband and is a resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Charles L. Buchanan as a boy attended a parochial school in Hunt- ington and later was graduated from the Huntington High School. Immediately upon his leaving school he entered the business with his father, and thereafter applied himself with all diligence to the work of mastering the heating and plumbing businesss in all its details. He proved himself quite as capable as his father, and in a few years was equal to taking control of the entire business, though this did not become necessary until the death of the father and founder of the busi- ness in 1907. Mr. Buchanan has since then been in entire charge of the business, and he carries on a lively business, employing from ten to twelve persons in the operation thereof. The firm specializes in steam and hot water heating, and enjoys an excellent business in the city, in neighboring towns and also in the country districts where modern residences are being erected by many of the prosperous and progressive farmers of the county.
In keeping with the common practice among practical plumbers, Mr. Buchanan carries a full line of hardware peculiar to the demands of the heating and plumbing trade, and his stock is one of the most com- prehensive and modern to be found in the county.
Mr. Buchanan is a member of the Knights of Columbus, No. 1014; B. P. O. E., No. 805, and the National Union. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church.
JACOB GILL. One of the modern and progressive agriculturists of Huntington township is Jacob Gill, whose home has been in this county for upwards of half a century, and who has always had an honorable identification with the community, while his activities as a business man and farmer have brought him the substantial rewards of well conducted
,
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Indiana farm life. Mr. Gill now owns the old homestead, comprising eighty-two acres, and has a very fine fruit orchard of two acres, while the rest of his place is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Gill had some years ago built a modern brick home, and everything about the place shows the progressive and capable agriculturist.
Jacob Gill was born in Bavaria, Germany, February 21, 1856, a son of Frederick and Louisa (Holzinger) Gill. Both parents were also Bavarians by birth, and they grew up and were married there, and after their children were born and partly reared, they emigrated to the United States and found a home in Huntington township, April 28, 1865, the father buying the estate which is now owned by his son Jacob. There Frederick Gill answered the last summons on February 21, 1908, when he had reached a venerable age, and his passing was an occasion of sincere sorrow throughout the community. There were nine children altogether, and the following are living in Huntington township ; Jacob, John, Fred, Elizabeth and Katherine. John Gill is a successful truck farmer.
Jacob Gill was nine years of age when the family came to the United States, had previously attended the schools of Germany, and was edu- cated for several years in the public schools and the parochial schools at Huntington. Mr. Gill has never married, and is an active member of the St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church of Huntington, while in politics he votes the democratic ticket, and has always been ready to respond to the calls upon good citizenship in his community.
When the parents of Mr. Gill emigrated to America, they had small cash capital to locate in a strange country, and among a strange people, but by thrift and economy, they made good-and the repre- sentative of the family, Mr. Jacob Gill, has added luster to the name as well as success. He holds high prestige as an honorable and upright citizen of Huntington county.
In the spring of 1913, he began the erection of one of the most beau- tiful and modern brick residences in the township, finished in hardwood and handsomely furnished, and lighted by electricity. This beautiful home is presided over by Mr. Gill's sister, Elizabeth, who is a model housekeeper and a devout member of the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic church of Huntington, Indiana. Mr. Gill is truly an agent and has never allowed any other business to interfere, which has proven a success. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
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