USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Indiana > Part 64
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Richard V. Dumas was born on December 8, 1834, while his .
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were living in Warren county, Ohio, and was about one year old when the family came to Johnson county, Indiana. He attended the common schools of his home neighborhood until about 1854, when he entered Hopewell Academy, three miles west of Franklin, where he studied two years. He then went to Kansas, where he remained about three and a half years, re- turning to Johnson county during the holidays of 1860. In the spring of the following year, his patriotism being fired by the disloyal actions of the Southern states, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and rendered faithful and valuable service in defense of his country until, about nine months after his enlistment, he was seriously wounded, his left leg being badly broken. He lay for four months in a hospital at Washington, D. C., at the end of which period he was honora- bly discharged from the service in October, 1862, on account of physical disability, and returned to his home. In 1863 Mr. Ditmars obtained employ- ment as a clerk in the dry goods store of John L. Jones at Franklin, with whom he remained three years. During the two following years he was a partner in the firm of Jones, Ditmars & Company, then, selling out to Jones & Dunlap, he went to Indianapolis and took a four months' course in a busi- ness college. He then returned to Franklin and engaged in the dry goods business on his own account and has been so engaged continuously since, with the exception of a short period about twenty years ago, being now the oldest merchant in Franklin. Though now in his seventy-eighth year, Mr. Dit- mars retains to a remarkable degree his physical vitality, while, mentally, he is as keen and alert as at any period in his life. His record as a business man has been one of which he is justifiably proud, for in all this period no one has been able to cast a slur on or besmirch his reputation as an honest, upright and fearless business man, while as a private citizen he has at all times stood for the best interests of the community along every line. He has been an eye witness and participant in the splendid growth which has characterized this section of the country and has himself been an important factor in its progress and development.
Mr. Ditmars has been twice married, first in 1872 to Alice Barnett, the only daughter of Dr. Robert E. Barnett, of Greenfield, Indiana, to which union were born three children, only one of whom is now living, namely, Lillian, the wife of Dr. Oran A. Province, of Franklin. Mrs. Alice Ditmars died about twenty-five years ago and five years later he married Mary Mather, of Indianapolis.
Religiously, Mr. Ditmars has for many years been an earnest and faith-
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ful member of the Presbyterian church, of which he was a ruling elder for thirty-four years. He is a member of Wadsworth Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past commander, and he is rendering efficient service as patriotic instructor in the schools all over Johnson county. Mr. Ditmars has been a consistent man in all he has ever undertaken and his career in all the relations of life has been utterly without pretense. He is held in the highest esteem by all who know him, and the city of Franklin and county of Johnson can boast of no better man or more enterprising citizen.
WILLIAM D. McCARTNEY.
It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs that makes the real his- tory of a community and his influence as a potential factor in 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 ac- complish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual way, to their achievements in advancing their own interests and those of their fellow men and giving strength and solidity to the institu- tions which make so much for the prosperity of the community. Such a man is William D. McCartney, the present popular livery man and farmer at Greenwood, Johnson county, and it is eminently proper that a review of his interesting and varied career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of Johnson county.
William D. McCartney was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, on March II, 1853, and is a son of James and Emmeline (Sharp) McCartney. The father, who also was from Jefferson county, Indiana, became a resident of that county when four years old, having been brought there by his parents. James McCartney and wife. James McCartney was a native of Ireland and his wife was a native of Virginia. The subject's father was a farmer by vocation and came to Johnson county. Indiana, in 1863, settling in Clark township, where he made his future home, following his vocation as a farmer during his active life. His death occurred in March, 1878. and his wife died in 1876. They were the parents of seven children, and the subject of this sketch is the only surviving member of his family.
William B. McCartney received his education in the common schools of the neighborhood and was reared to the life of a farmer, a vocation to which he has devoted his attention the greater portion of his life, the only exception
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being about four months when he was employed at railroad work. He was fairly successful in his agricultural work, acquiring the ownership of seventy- eight acres of splendid land, in addition to which he rents about three hundred acres. On this land he carries on a diversified system of farming, raising all the crops common to this locality and also gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, feeding Polled Angus and Hereford cattle and Duroc hogs, for which he finds a ready market, owing to the good quality of the stock which he raises. His land is fertile, maintained in good condition, while the permanent improvements are of such character as add attractiveness and value to the property. In 1912 Mr. McCartney moved to Greenwood, where he bought a livery stable which he has since conducted, but still oversees his farming interests. He has twelve head of horses and a splendid line of carriages and buggies, with which he is accommodating the local trade in such a manner as is entirely satisfactory to his customers. He is also giving his attention to the breeding and raising of Percheron horses, in which he is achieving a good reputation, keeping nothing but high grade stock. He possesses good business ability and this, combined with his genial disposition and evident desire to please, has won him a warm place in the hearts of the people with whom he associates.
In 1878 Mr. McCartney was married to Alice Terman, daughter of James W. and Martha (Cutsinger) Terman. who were old settlers in Jack- son township, Shelby county, Indiana, and prominent among the leading peo- ple of their community. To Mr. and Mrs. McCartney have been born four children, namely: Harry, of Greenwood, who is secretary of the J. T. Polk canning factory: Margaret, who married O. H. Thurston. a farmer of Pleasant township, this county: J. W., who was a farmer until the present year, since when he has been a contractor of stone road work in partnership with a Mr. Murphy, and Florence, who married B. E. McMullen, and is living in Indianapolis.
· Politically, Mr. McCartney is a staunch Republican and has served five years as assessor of Pleasant township and a similar period as trustee of the township. He at one time ran for the offices of clerk and county auditor, but, as he was a member of the minority party, he was defeated with the other candidates on his ticket. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order. belonging to the blue lodge at Greenwood and the commandery of Knights Templar at Franklin, and is also a charter member of the Knights of Pythias at Greenwood. Religiously. the family are all members of the Christian church. Mr. McCartney has achieved success because he has given attention along proper channels and has been an advocate of honest living and dealing
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with his fellow men. Though never animated with great ambition for public honors, he has ever lent his aid in furthering the general interests of his locality and is well fortified in his convictions, being at all times public spirited in his attitude toward all movements for the benefit of the locality in which he lives.
MRS. ELIZA POLK CARNES.
Wholly devoted to home and domestic duties, doing through all the best years of her life the lowly but sacred work that comes within her sphere, there is not much to record concerning the life of the average woman. And yet what station so dignified, what relation so loving and endearing, what offices so holy, tender and ennobling as those of home-making wifehood and motherhood. As man's equal in every qualification save the physical, and his superior in the gentle, tender and loving amenities of life, she fully merits a ' much larger notice than she ordinarily receives, and the writer of these lines is optimistic enough to indulge the prediction that in no distant future she will receive due credit for the important part she acts in life's great drama and be accorded her proper place in history and biography. The foregoing lines are prompted by a review of the career of one of Greenwood's grand old ladies, Mrs. Eliza Polk Carnes, who is numbered among the most re- spected and esteemed residents of this favored community.
Mrs. Carnes is a native of the state of Kentucky and the daughter of William and Sarah (Shoptaugh) Polk, both of whom were also natives of the old Blue Grass state. The father, who was a farmer, came to Indiana in 1856, settling in Johnson county. where he followed agricultural pursuits during his entire active life. He built the present attractive brick house in which Mrs. Carnes lives in 1867 and in which he resided until his death, which occurred in 1877. To him and his wife were born nine children. namely: John A., now deceased, who was a member of the Indiana Legis- lature for two terms; Matilda; Burr H., who was mayor of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and a prominent citizen of that community ; Maurice; James M .; Eliza J., the immediate subject of this sketch: William L., of Vicksburg, Mississippi; Lizzie and Charles. Mr. Polk was a Democrat in his political affiliations, though not active in public affairs. and he and the members of his family were all affiliated with the Baptist church.
Eliza J. Polk received her education in the common schools, and in 1863 she was united in marriage to Henry C. Wood, who was born in Taylorsville,
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Kentucky, on December 24, 1832. After attaining mature years he became a druggist, in which he had a successful career, and was preparing to enter the profession of medicine when his death occurred, on December 10, 1867. He was a man of splendid personal qualities of character, and because of his genuine worth and personal manners he had endeared himself to all who knew him. To Henry C. and Eliza Wood was born a son, Clarence H., who is now living at home with his mother and was station agent and operator at Greenwood for ten years. On October 25, 1870, Eliza Polk Wood was united in marriage to Zachariah Carnes, who was born in Grayson county, Kentucky, on January 10, 1839. After receiving a good, practical and com- mon school education, he decided to take up the practice of medicine and matriculated in the Medical School of Kentucky at Louisville, where, in due time, he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1873 he entered upon the practice of his profession at Hardin Springs, Kentucky, where he remained about four years and then came to Greenwood, where he was numbered among the successful and prominent physicians of this locality until his death, which occurred in January, 1910. He was not only eminent in his profession, but as a citizen he stood for all those things which elevate and advance the best interests of a community. He had the greatest sympathy for his fellow men and was ever willing to aid and assist those who were struggling to aid themselves against adverse fate, yet in this as in everything else he was entirely unostentatious. To him life was a sacred trust; friend- ship was inviolable and nothing could turn him from the path of rectitude and honor. Although his life was a busy one, his every-day affairs making heavy demands upon his time, he never shrank from his duties as a citizen and his obligations to the church, his neighbors and friends. To the practice of his profession he brought rare skill and research, such qualities stamping him as a man of extraordinary talent and a benefactor of his kind. In poli- tics he was a Republican, though not a seeker after public office, and he was a member of the Johnson County Medical Society, of which he served as president two or three terms.
To Zachariah and Eliza Carnes was born a daughter, Floy M., who be- came the wife of Theophilus J. Moll, an attorney in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mrs. Carnes is the owner of one hundred acres of good land which she leases, and is looking after her business affairs with an ability which bespeakes her strong character and mentality. Despite her advanced age she retains her mental and physical faculties to a marked degree, and is numbered among the popular members of the social circles in which she moves.
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GEORGE W. WILD.
Success is only achieved by the exercise of certain distinguishing quali- ties and it cannot be retained without effort. Those by whom great epoch changes have been made in the political and industrial world began early in life to prepare themselves for their peculiar duties and responsibilities and it was only by the most persevering and continuous endeavor that they suc- ceeded in rising superior to the obstacles in their way and reaching the goal of their ambition. Such lives are an inspiration to others who are less cour- ageous and more prone to give up the fight before their ideal is reached or definite success in any chosen field has been attained. In the life history of the honorable gentleman whose name forms the caption of this article we find evidence of a peculiar characteristic that always makes for achievement- persistency, coupled with fortitude and lofty traits, and as a result of such a life Mr. Wild stands today one of the representative citizens of Johnson county and one of the best known and most highly respected men of Clark township.
George W. Wild was born April 18, 1860, in Jollity, near Edinburg, Johnson county, Indiana, and is a son of Charles Wild, a native of Germany, born in 1836 and died in 1912, and his wife, whose maiden name was Christina Trech, and who was also a native of the fatherland. Charles Wild came to America at the age of eighteen years with his mother and stopped first in Cincinnati, where he plied his trade, that of blacksmith. Later he went to New Orleans, traveling as a journeyman blacksmith, seeing much of the country and gaining a great deal of valuable experience during this period. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Union army, serving four years and gaining for himself a splendid reputation as a gallant and faithful soldier. Eventually he came to Johnson county, settling at Jollity, and after- wards located at Urmeyville, where for a time he had a blacksmith shop, but later returned to Jollity, where his death occurred. To him and his wife were born seven children, namely: Charles, of Needham township, this county ; George W., the subject of this sketch; Joseph, who resides in the edge of Shelby county; Mrs. Sophia Sanders, of Blue River township, this county; Mrs. Emma Brock, also of Blue River township; Mrs. Kate Smith, of Need- ham township, and Caroline.
The subject of this sketch did not receive many educational advantages, because his time was required in assisting in the support of the family. Dur- ing his boyhood days he cut cordwood in the day time and studied at night,
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in this way securing a fair practical education and getting an early start in the practical affairs of life. At the age of fifteen years he began working out by the month, his first wages being at the rate of fifteen dollars a month. In this way he worked for eleven years, carefully husbanding his resources so that eventually he found himself ready to start in life on his own account. His first employment was as manager of a poultry farm for Adam Dunlap, for whom he worked about seven years. In 1901 Mr. Wild bought sixty- seven acres of his present farm, and five years later purchased forty-four acres additional. He has made many permanent and substantial improvements on the place, including much ditching and rebuilding of houses and in many ways he has brought the farm up to the highest modern standard of agricul- tural excellence. He keeps practically all his own live stock, which he has found a profitable method to pursue and has met with splendid success in this line. He has thirty-five acres sown to wheat, twenty-five acres to corn and eight to oats, while ordinarily he cuts about ten tons of hay. He raises a large number of live stock, averaging about seventy-five head of hogs annually, and by careful attention to this branch of husbandry he has met with gratifying success in his operations.
Mr. Wild has been aligned with the Democratic party since he attained his majority and has been numbered among the active and worthy counsellors of that party in local elections. In 1904 he was elected trustee of Clark town- ship, serving four years and two months and giving satisfaction in the ad- ministration of the affairs of the office to which he was elected by the largest majority ever given in his township and having Beelf the first Democratic trustee of that township in twenty years. In 1907 Mr. Wild was elected to the board of county commissioners, in which he rendered such satisfactory service that in 1910 he was re-elected for a six-year term, being the present incumbent of the office. His religious membership is with the Presbyterian church, of which he is a faithful and earnest adherent.
In 1892 Mr. Wild was united in marriage with Etta Logan, the daughter of Roy Logan, of Johnson county. She proved to her husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the word, encouraging him and advising him wisely, much of his success being due to her splendid assistance. She died in April, 1913. To them were born three children, namely: Ruth, who is now a student in the Normal College at Terre Haute, Indiana; Alice and Christina, who are students in the Clark township high school. The subject has long been a supporter of movements having for their object the material advance- ment of the community, while his influence in promoting the social and moral
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welfare of his fellow men has been second to none. During his residence in the township where he has always been regarded as a man of upright princi- ples, industrious and kind-hearted to those in need, few in this community are better or more favorably known than he.
MAJOR JOHN H. TARLTON.
One of the most difficult literary tasks is to write an unexceptionable re- view of a living man. If the life is worthy of record there is always danger of offending that delicacy which is inseparable from merit; for even moderate praise, when it meets the eyes of its subject is apt to seem fulsome, while a nice sense of propriety would not be the less wounded by a dry abstract con- taining nothing but names and dates. To sum up a career which is not yet ended would appear like recording events which have not yet transpired, since justly to estimate the scope and meaning of a history it is important that we have the closing chapter. In writing biographical notice, therefore, the chronicler from the moment he takes up his pen should consider the subject as no longer among his contemporaries, for thus he will avoid the fear of of- fending by bestowing praise where it is merited and escape the risk of giving but a fragmentary view of that which must eventually be taken as a unit. At some risk, therefore, the writer assumes the task of placing on record the life and character of a man, who, by the force of strong individuality, has achieved eminent success in the vocations to which he has addressed himself and has won for himself an enviable place among the leading men of the city and county honored by his citizenship.
Major John H. Tarlton, the efficient and popular cashier of the Citizens National Bank of Franklin, is a native of the county in which he lives, having been born on September 24, 1850, on a farm east of Greenwood. He is the son of Caleb B. and Evaline M. (West) Tarlton, both of whom were born at Georgetown, Scott county, Kentucky, the father in 1827 and the mother in 1825. Caleb B. Tarlton came to Johnson county, Indiana, in 1835 with his father, Merritt Tarlton. The latter, on coming to Indiana, had first settled in Marion county, about eight miles east of Indianapolis, where he followed farming, which vocation he also followed after coming to Johnson county. Caleb Tarlton was reared to the life of the farm and never forsook that call- ing, following it up to within about ten years of his death, which occurred in 1909. His wife died in 1898. He was a prominent and influential man
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in the public life of the locality and was active in political affairs, having served as a member of the lower house of the Legislature as the representa- tive from Johnson and Morgan counties in 1870-72 and as state senator from Johnson and Shelby counties from 1876 to 1880. He was a Democrat in politics and a Baptist in his religious belief. To him and his wife were born seven children, of whom four are living, namely: William M., who lives in California ; James A., of Indianapolis ; Charles W., of Columbus, Indiana, and the subject of this review.
John H. Tarlton was reared on the paternal farmstead and secured his education in the district schools and the public schools of Indianapolis, after which he was a student in Franklin College. From 1878 to 1886 he served as deputy auditor of Johnson county, following which he was for two years employed in the county treasurer's office, his service in these positions giving him valuable experience and an insight into practical business methods. At the close of his term in the auditor's office he was a candidate for the office of auditor, but was defeated by a narrow margin. On leaving the treasurer's office Major Tarlton accepted the position of bookkeeper in the Citizens National Bank, of Franklin, which had been organized the year previous, and he has remained identified with this strong and well-known institution since. He was promoted first to assistant cashier and later to cashier, in which position he is now serving to the entire satisfaction of the officers of the bank and its patrons. Careful and conservative, and with a compre- hensive knowledge of all the details of banking methods, Major Tarlton has filled his responsible position with marked ability and he has been an im- portant factor in the splendid success which has marked the career of this bank. Genial and unassuming, the Major readily makes friends and always retains them so that today he enjoys a marked popularity throughout the community.
In 1898, on the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, the subject, who had been a member of the National Guard, enlisted for service, going to the front with his command on April 26. 1898, and serving until mustered out on November 4th of the same year. He was commissioned captain of his com- pany, and gained a good reputation as a careful and competent officer, so that after his discharge from the special military service, he was commissioned major in the National Guard, serving as such for eight years, when he de- clined another commission and was placed on the retired list. His military record was a creditable one in every respect and he earned the commendation of his superior officers.
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