USA > Indiana > Knox County > History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present; with biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc. ; together with an extended history of the colonial days of Vincennes, and its progress down to the formation of the state government > Part 69
USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present; with biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc. ; together with an extended history of the colonial days of Vincennes, and its progress down to the formation of the state government > Part 69
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A. J. HART was born near Washington, in Daviess County, Ind., and is one of eleven children born to the marriage of James
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Hart and Sarah King. The father was born on the Atlantic Ocean in 1793, coming from Ireland to America. His parents settled first in Tennessee, and then in North Carolina, where the father was married. They came from there to Indiana, and here our subject was born November 15, 1831. His mother was a native of middle Tennessee, died when he was about twelve years of age, and he lived with his father until eighteen years of age, when he began doing for himself. He first began working on the Wabash & Erie Canal, and in six months' time was pro- moted to superintendent, and was given a force of seventy-five or one hundred men. Two years later he with sixteen men came to Daviess County, Ind., and commenced working on the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. In the fall of 1853 he quit this work and commenced farming on some of the land where he now lives. February 8, 1854, he was married to Mary, daughter of Matthew and Margaret (Hopkins) Arthur. She was born November 5, 1827. He cast his first vote for Buchanan, but since that time has been a Republican. He has been a member of the Masonic Lodge for sixteen years, and his wife a member of the Christian Church for twenty years. Mr. Hart owns 160 acres of land, 120 of which are in a good state of cultivation. In 1868 he gave up his farm life and kept a general merchandise store in Wash- ington for three years, and then moved to Montgomery, where he followed the same occupation, and also operated a coal mine. In 1876 he returned to the farm, where he has since lived.
CHARNER HAWKINS, African, was born near Washing- ton, Daviess Co., Ind., March 29, 1831, and is the fourth of a family of eleven children born to Jacob and Ellen (Embrey) Hawkins, who were natives of Charleston, S. C., where they were slaves. They came with their owners to Indiana when it was a Territory, and at its admittance into the Union as a State they obtained their freedom. The father was at this time sixteen years of age, and by his own energy and perseverance became the owner of over 1,000 acres of excellent farming land. His master's name was Hawkins, and he accordingly took that name after securing his freedom. He and wife were for some time members of the Presbyterian Church, and afterward of the African Methodist Church. The father died in 1864, and the
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mother in 1870. Our subject was reared on a farm, and received very limited educational advantages. He remained with his parents to the age of twenty-two years, when he married and settled on his present farm. He has been very prosperous in his undertakings, and is at the present time the owner of 260 acres of land in one tract, and thirty acres near Washington. His farm is well improved, and he has a fine two-story residence well furnished. In 1853 he was married to Malinda Grier. They have two children: Sylvester and Sarah E. This wife died January 17, 1873, and September 15, 1875, he was married to Millie Blakey, who has borne him four children: Dora, Clergain, Helen, and Charner. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins are members of the African Methodist Church, and he is a member of the I. O. O. F., and politically is a very zealous Republican. He is one of the prominent men of the county, and is recognized as a highly honorable and upright citizen. His father was the first African in the county, and in his younger days often made trips to Vincennes, protected from the Indians by a number of armed men, to get barrels of salt for the neighbors.
FRANCIS M. HAYNES, attorney at law, of Washington, Ind., was born in Lawrence County, this State, November 27, 1845, and is a son of John and Lavina (Sapp) Haynes, natives, respectively, of Kentucky and Maryland, and of Irish and German descent. John Haynes removed to Daviess County with his family in 1849, and located on a farm in Bogard Township, where he resided until his death July 22, 1875. Francis M. was reared on a farm, and secured a good literary education, preparing himself for teaching, which profession he followed for two years. At the age of twenty he began studying Blackstone, and in 1872 came to this city and read law in the office of Judge James T. Perce. He was admitted to the Daviess County bar in 1878, and formed a partnership with his preceptor (Perce) and practiced law with him until his re- moval from the city in 1880. He then practiced with Levi Reeves until 1883, when he continued by himself until 1885, and then formed a partnership with A. M. Hardy, and the firm stands among the foremost ranks in the legal profession to-day. Janu- ary 31, 1865, he married Matilda J. Burkett, a native of the county. Mr. Haynes is a Republican in politics, and takes an
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active interest in the local campaigns in the county. In Septem- ber, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company G, Forty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving in this and Company I, Six- ty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the war of the Rebellion until July 13, 1865. He is a member of the Encampment of I. O. O. F. and G. A. R. He was wounded by the concussion of a shell at the battle of Resaca, Ga., producing spinal meningitis, from which he is still disabled. He receives a pension from the Government.
JUDGE DAVID J. HEFRON was born in Jennings County, Ind., February 18, 1842, and removed with his parents to Daviess County, Ind., and located on a farm in Barr Township, where he remained until about twenty years of age. He attended the town- ship schools, and later was a student in the Mitchell High School. He taught for some time during the winter seasons and farmed dur- ing the summer, and afterward attended the literary department of the State University at Bloomington in 1866, and remained during the following year. He attended the law department of the same institution the winter of 1868-69, and came to Washing- ton in February of the latter year, and entered the law office of Hon. John H. O'Neal. He was admitted to the bar and became a partner of Mr. O'Neal in 1870, and began practicing in 1871. This partnership was dissolved in 1872, but was resumed in 1874, and continued until the appointment of Mr. Hefron as judge of this circuit. The firm of O'Neal & Hefron was one of the most successful and prominent of law firms in the Second Congres- sional District, both gentlemen being attorneys of more than or- dinary ability. Mr. Hefron was elected mayor of Washington in May, 1871, and re-elected in 1873. In 1876 he was chosen to represent Green and Daviess Counties in the State Legislature to fill an unexpired term of Hon. Andrew Humphrey, who had been elected to Congress. In 1878 he was re-elected to the State Sen- ate for a term of four years, and was one of the most active mem- bers and the acknowledged leader of the Democratic senators. When the Forty-ninth Judicial Circuit was created, Gov. Gray im- mediately appointed Mr. Hefron judge of the new circuit, an ap- pointment that met with universal approval. Politically Mr. Hefron is a Democrat, but a very liberal one. He is of Irish lin-
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eage, and was married, September 10, 1873, to Florence A. Barton, who died December 18, 1884, leaving four children. She was a daughter of Dr. G. G. Barton, of Washington, Ind. Our subject is essentially a self-made man.
HERMAN HIMBURG, was born in Prussia, Germany, Oc- tober 19, 1832. He is the sixth of twelve children born to the marriage of Jacob Himburg and Mary Schram, who were also native Germans, and lived and died in their native land. Our subject was reared in a city of Germany, and obtained a good ed- ucation in his native language, but never attended English schools. At the age of seventeen he left home and traveled as a barber over Europe until twenty-two years of age. He then came to America and located in Buffalo, N. Y., where he worked at his trade. At the end of six months he went to Canada, and after re- siding there four years he went to Louisville, Ky., where he re- mained about six months, and in 1858 moved to Washington, Ind., and worked at his trade about seven years, and also kept bar- room. In 1872 or 1873 he moved to Lettsville, where he kept a store until October 17, 1884, when he was burned out with con- siderable loss. Since then he has followed farming exclusively, and now owns 333 acres of land well improved. He was united in marriage, January 22, 1855, to Mary Gento, a native of Ger- many, who came to America at the same time our subject did. Mr. Himburg is not a member of any church, but is a Lutheran in belief. Politically he has always been a Democrat, and has been postmaster of Lettsville for twelve years. He is a wide- awake business man and has the respect and esteem of all.
HIRAM HOGSHEAD was born in Daviess County, Ind., February 10, 1824, and is the third of ten children born to David and Mary (Logan) Hogshead, natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Kentucky. They were married in Kentucky, and came to Martin County, Ind., where the father followed agricult- ural pursuits. After a short residence in that county they came to Daviess County, and there spent the remainder of their lives. They both died in 1879. Subject was reared on a farm near Washington, Ind., but received limited educational advantages. At the age of twenty-seven he married, and began farming and working at the cooper's trade, and continued that until 1863,
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when he came to Washington, and in connection with David Solomon worked very successfully at the cooper's trade for a short time. He then took a trip to California and Oregon, but soon returned to "Hoosierdom" and operated a saw-mill until about 1878, when he began the manufacture of tile, and still car- ries on that business. November 4, 1852, he wedded Martha Johnson, who died in 1861, having borne two children, one now living, Glenn (wife of William Frickie). October 1, 1862, Mr. Hogshead married his present wife, Susan Juvenall, a native of this county, born in 1834. These three children have blessed their union: Emma, Ephraim, and Mary. Mr. Hogshead is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a Knight Templar of the Vincennes Commandery. In politics he has always been a Whig and Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Taylor. He is a highly respected citizen, and an enterprising business man of the county.
ALBION HORRALL, postmaster, Washington, was born in Daviess County February 24, 1854, being the eldest of a family of seven children, five of whom are still living, born to Spillard F. and Jane (Crabb) Horrall, both natives of Daviess County, subject's grandfather having come to Daviess County by wagon from South Carolina in 1816, where he resided until his death in 1878. The father of our subject was prominent, and was for a number of years engaged in the newspaper business before the war. In September, 1861, he enlisted as second lieutenant of Company G, Forty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, serving until the close of the war, and being promoted to first lieutenant and captain, and later was made an officer on Gen. John Beatty's staff. After the close of the war he was local editor of the Evansville Journal six years, and of the Evansville Courier one year. He was then local editor of the Terre Haute Gazette one year, when he returned to Washington and bought the Washington Gazette, which he conducted five or six years. He then removed to Vincennes and started the Vincennes Com- mercial, which he conducted three or four years, when he again returned to Washington and started the Weekly Commercial, which he ran, however, only a short time. Since then he has resided in Washington, retired from active labor. The subject
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of this sketch was brought up in the newspaper business with his father, his education having been obtained in the public schools and completed at Evansville. When he was seventeen years old he worked one year as mailing clerk on the Evansville Courier, and then one year on the Terre Haute Evening Gazette. Coming then to Washington he worked at the case in the office of the Washington Gazette until he was twenty-one years old, when he entered into partnership with his father on that paper, and later in the Vincennes Commercial, continuing thus until his appoint- ment as postmaster at Washington in 1877. This position he filled faithfully and efficiently until 1886. In politics he has always been a stanch Republican and an active worker for his party. He is a Mason and a member of the I. O. O. F. He was married February 22, 1878, to Miss Mamie Harris, daughter of William P. Harris, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Horrall have three children: Pearl, Laura, and Pansy. Mr. Horrall attends the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his family are members.
ELISHA HYATT (deceased) may be mentioned as one of the men who figured conspicuously in the financial affairs of the county. He was born in Mason County, Ky., October 4, 1809, and died December 31, 1885, at his home in Washington, Ind. He was a son of Thomas and Margaret Hyatt, and has been a resident of Daviess County since 1823. He remained on the farm and aided his parents until twenty-four years of age. After making several trips to New Orleans by boat, he engaged in the mercantile business with Thomas B. Graham, but the partnership was dissolved in 1842. He afterward operated a dis- tillery for two years, and later was a partner with William Help- enstein in merchandising. Since 1875 he has been engaged in farming, steam-boating, pork-packing, timber traffic, and was president of the Hyatt, Leving & Co.'s Bank of Washington, Ind., which failed in 1884, causing him to lose his valuable es- tates and property. He was married in December, 1839, to Mar- tha Beazley, a native of the county, born in 1817. To their union eight children were born, these five now living: Elizabeth (wife of Isaac Parsons, of Vincennes), Hiram, Lydia (wife of Hugh Rogers), Richard, and Elisha. Politically Mr. Hyatt was a Whig and Republican, and has been a zealous member of his
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party. His credit was almost unlimited, and he was recognized by all as one who did much to benefit Daviess County and the city of Washington.
HON. JOHN HYATT, a prominent citizen of Daviess Coun- ty, was born in Mason County, Ky., September 4, 1814. He is one of the four surviving members of a family of three sons and four daughters born to Thomas and Margaret (McPherson) Hyatt. The father, who was of German descent, was born in Hyattstown, Md .; removed to Kentucky when he was a young man, married there and in 1823 moved to Daviess County, Ind. Here he pur- chased what has since been known as the "Hyatt" farm, one-half mile north of Washington, upon which he resided until his death a short time before the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion. He was well and favorably known throughout the county as one of its most enterprising and successful farmers, and as a moral, upright man. The mother of John Hyatt was of Irish descent, of Pennsylvania birth, and died on the homestead five years after the death of her husband. John Hyatt was brought up on the farm with his parents, and secured a limited education in the primitive schools of Daviess County, but he greatly improved upon this rudimentary education in later life by actual and contin- ued contact with business life. After attaining his majority he engaged as clerk with the firm of Graham & Hyatt, and continued with them four or five years. In 1839 he engaged in the grocery business in Washington on his own account, continuing in that business exclusively two years, at the end of which time he add- ed dry goods to his stock, and conducted these two kinds of busi- ness until 1875 without interruption. By thirty-five years' experi- ence and attention to business he succeeded in establishing a large and lucrative trade and a comfortable competency. Unfor- tunately, however, in later years, he became crippled financially by security, which illustrates the generous nature of Mr. Hyatt, and at the same time the folly of becoming surety for a friend. Mr. Hyatt was originally an old-time Whig, but is now a Green- backer. In 1840 he was elected recorder of Daviess County, serving seven years. In 1868 he was elected by the Democratic party to represent them in the Indiana State Legislature, serving in the session of 1869, and resigning with others on account of
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the trouble occasioned by the introduction of the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. He was re-elected to the called session of 1869. He has always taken an active interest in public and private enterprises in the county, and has especially devoted his attention and means to educational advancement. He has been a member of the school board a number of times and also of the city council. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and while he is not a member of any sectarian church, yet he believes mainly in the teachings of the Bible and extends a helping hand to the church. Mr. Hyatt has been mar- ried four times, and has lost three wives by death. By his first wife, who was Miss Elizabeth J. Gastings, he was the father of seven children, four of whom are now living: Henry H., Fielding A., Samuel and Anna A., the latter now Mrs. William Gibson, of Salina, Kas. By his second wife, who was Mary Burns, he had one child, Charles, who is still living. By his marriage with Elizabeth Bruner he had three children, two of whom are now living: Cora (Mrs. E. R. Tuttle, of St. Louis), and Anna (Mrs. Charles Ohmer, of Indianapolis). He was married to his present wife, formerly Bertha Brayfield, May 12, 1874. By her he has two children: Francis and Edgar.
GEORGE HYATT was the second of five children born to William and Rebecca (Read) Hyatt, both natives of the county, and grandson of Thomas Hyatt, who was born in Kentucky and came to Indiana in 1823, and settled on the farm where our sub- ject now lives. He was a prominent man of the county, and all the Hyatts of the county are his descendants. He died Septem- ber 22, 1848. His wife, Margaret (McFerran) Hyatt, died May 17, 1858. Our subject's father was born in 1823 on a farm, and there lived until about forty-five years of age, when he moved to town and was engaged in the merchandise business for six or seven . years. He then retired from that business and dealt in stock, and at his death, June 2, 1885, owned 300 acres of fine land ad- joining town. He was twice married. By his first wife, Rebecca A. Read, whom he married November 23, 1847, he became the father of these children: Mary, George, Margaret, Helen and Rebecca. This wife died April 2, 1858, and he then married Mar- garet McClure, who bore him one child-Thomas. His last mar-
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riage was September 11, 1884, to Mrs. Ella A. Coup, who sur- vives him. Our immediate subject was born July 10, 1850, and was reared on the farm and secured a good education in the grad- ed schools. At the age of twenty-eight he went to California, but remained there but six months, when he returned and engaged in the general merchandise business in Epsom. At the end of three years he purchased an interest in the Washington Mills and Foundry, which was afterward destroyed by fire. In August, 1885, he began farming on the old place and now owns 270 acres of land, part of which is adjacent to town and very valuable. September 4, 1881, he was married to Florence R. Carter, a native of the county. They have these three children: William, Alice and Mary. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and a Republican in politics.
HENRY H. HYATT was born in Washington, Ind., June 22, 1842, and is the second of six children born to John and Elizabeth J. (Geetings) Hyatt. He was raised in the city and secured a common school education. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteers July 2, 1861, and served his country three years, but remained unin- jured. After his return home he engaged with his father and brother in the dry goods business, continuing very successfully until 1883. He then took charge of the Hyatt House until 1885, when he abandoned that work, and is not now actively engaged in business. He owns 780 acres of land, a portion of which is the finest in the county in regard to fertility and location. He was married September 5, 1864, to Mary E. Hoffmeister, a native of the county and daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Hoffmeister, of this city. To them were born six children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are Clara, Hattie, Elizabeth and Robert C. Mr. Hyatt is a Knight Templar Mason, Encampment of Odd Fellows and Uniform Degree of G. A. R., K. of H. and K. of P. He and family are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a very zealous Republican. He has been con- nected with the business interests of the city since attaining his majority, and is one of the first citizens of the county.
JOHN JACKSON, farmer and stock raiser, is a native of the " Sucker State," born February 15, 1830, son of Daniel and
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1
Alice (Colbert) Jackson, and is of Irish descent, and the seventh of thirteen children. His father was born in N. Y. in 1797, and his mother in Ohio in 1804. The grandfather was born in Ire- land, but came to America and died in Pennsylvania. The Jack- son family came to Daviess County, Ind., about 1830 and settled in Washington Township for a few years and then moved to Har- rison Township, where the father died in 1879, and his mother in 1880. Our subject spent his boyhood days on a farm, and re- ceived but little schooling. At the age of twenty-one he began for himself and worked by the month for two years, and then began farming on his own responsibility. In 1880 he moved on his present farm, and now owns 713 acres of land, nearly all of which is well improved. He was married, in November, 1856, to Miss Melinda Chapman, born in Harrison Township in 1837, daughter of R. S. Chapman. They have six children, viz. : Eli M., Milton M., Charles M., Anna M., Stella M. and Harlie M. Mr. Jackson is a Republican in his political views, and is a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F. He takes great interest in the advance- ment of agriculture, and is noted as a breeder of short-horn cattle and fine hogs. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is one of the leading farmers of the county.
NATHAN H. JEPSON, watch-maker and jeweler of Wash- ington, Ind., was born in Belmont County, Ohio, January, 28, 1835, and is a son of John and Hannah (Hunt) Jepson, both na- tives of Lancastershire, England. The former came to the United States as early as 1825, locating first in Troy, N. Y., and seven years later removed to Belmont County, Ohio. Here he followed farming until late in life, when he devoted his attention to mer- cantile pursuits, in which he remained engaged until disqualified for business by old age. He died in Belmont County in Feb- ruary, 1884, in his ninetieth year. The subject of this sketch was brought up by his parents in St. Clairsville, Ohio, where he ob- tained a fair literary education. He clerked in his father's store until he was nineteen years old, when he went to Cadiz, Harri- son Co., Ohio, to learn the watch-maker's and jeweler's trade. Remaining there one and a half years he engaged in the busi- ness for himself at Steubenville, Ohio. In 1864 he enlisted in
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Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served in that regiment four months as orderly sergeant. At the close of the war he established himself in busi- ness at Urbana, Ohio, where he remained until 1870, when he came to Washington, Ind., where he has continued at the same business ever since. He carries a full and select line of watches, clocks, jewelry and silverware, and enjoys a large trade both in the city and county. Mr. Jepson is a sound Republican in poli- tics, and has taken an active interest in the welfare of his party since his residence in the county. He was a member of the Republican State Central Committee during the campaign of 1882, but declined the position in 1884, as he was a candidate for nomination to the office of secretary of State before the Re- publican convention. He has been chairman of the city Repub- lican committee a number of years, was a member of city council two years, and has on several occasions declined the nomination for mayor. He is a member of the U. S. Grant Post, No. 72, G. A. R., of Washington. In 1863 he was married to Miss Eliza- beth Black, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio. They have three children: John S., Lucy T, and Jessie Hunt. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jepson are members of the Presbyterian Church, he himself being one of the deacons, and he is universally and justly recognized as one of the leading, enterprising and suc- cessful business men of the community.
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