USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 45
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 45
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Charlotte Lowe Bryan), New York, 1897, 454 pages; "The Republic of Plato, with Studies for Teachers." (joint author with Mrs. Charlotte Lowe Bryan), New York, 1898, 313 pages; "Studies on the Telegraphic Language. The Acquisition of a Hierarchy of Habits." ( joint author with Noble Harter ), in Psychological Review, Vol. VI, pages 345-375 (July, 1899) ; "Science in the Daily Press" (joint author with Ernest H. Lindley), in Science, new series, Vol. XI, page 74 ( 1900) : "An Arithmetical Prodigy" (joint author with E. H. Lindley), in Proceedings American Psychological Association for 1900, and in Psychological Review, Vol. VII, page 135 (1900) ; "The Case of Arthur Griffith, Arithmetical Prodigy" ( joint author with E. H. Lindley ), in Compte rendu du Congres International de Psychologie tenu a Paris, 1900, page 178; "Theory and Practice," President's address, American Psycholog- ical Association, St. Louis meeting, December, 1903, in Psychological Review, Vol. XI, pages 71-82 (March, 1904). The works mentioned above, however, do not by any means represent adequately the activities of President Bryan's busy years, for much of his original research work has never been published to the world. He has a justifiable pride in the position occupied by Indiana University in research and study, her record in the field of psychology being excelled by only five colleges in this country.
President Bryan has been honored by many scientific and educational societies in this country, among which preferments have been the following : Secretary of the first Child Study Association, organized at Chicago in 1893; member of the Herbart Society ; member of council of the National Educa- tional Association; president of the American Psychological Association, 1903-4 ; president of Indiana State Teachers' Association, 1904; vice-president of the section of higher education, National Educational Association, 1904, and president of this section in 1905; president of the American Association of State Universities, 1911-12; Fellow of the American Academy of Science; trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching ; honor- ary member of the Phi Beta Kappa ; he was also a charter member and the first president of the Indiana chapter of the Sigma Zi frtaernity. President Bryan has been the recipient of the following honorary degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Indiana University, 1884; Master of Arts, 1886; Doctor of Philosophy, Clark University, 1892; Doctor of Laws, University of Illinois, 1904, and Hanover College, 1908.
On July 13, 1889, William Lowe Bryan was married to Charlotte A. Lowe, the daughter of Charles G. and Sophia E. Lowe, of Indianapolis. Mrs. Bryan is a graduate of Indiana University, Bachelor of Arts, 1888, Master
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of Arts, 1889, and is joint author with Doctor Bryan of "Plato the Teacher," and "Plato's Republic."
Religiously, President and Mrs. Bryan are members of the United Presbyterian church, and are earnest and faithful in their observance of their religious obligations and privileges. Personally, President Bryan is genial and easily approached and enjoys to a marked degree the confidence of all who are thrown into contact with him. Though first of all an educator and mak- ing his work as such paramount to every other consideration, he has not been remiss in his duty to the community in which he resides, nor unmindful of his obligations as a citizen. Thoroughly abreast of the times on the leading questions and issues concerning which men and parties divide, he is not a strict partisan, and, particularly in local affairs, gives his support to the best qualified candidates, irrespective of party ties. Though now only in the early prime of life, he has achieved success such as only few attain, but, not satis- fied with past results, he is pressing forward to still wider fields and higher honors, although his place among the eminent men of his day and generation is secure for all time to come.
JOSEPH R. VORIS.
The two most strongly marked characteristics of both the East and the West are combined in the residents of Indiana. The enthusiastic enterprise which overleaps all obstacles and makes possible almost any undertaking in the comparatively new and vigorous Western states is here tempered by the stable and more careful policy that we have borrowed from our Eastern neighbors, and the combination is one of unusual force and power. It has been the means of placing this section of the country on a par with the older East, at the same time producing a reliability and certainty in business affairs which is frequently lacking in the West. This happy combination of char- acteristics is possessed to a notable degree by the subject of this review, Joseph R. Voris, of Bedford. He is too well known to the readers of this work to need any formal introduction here, for he not only comes of a family whose name is deeply engraved in the financial, commercial, profes- sional and industrial history of this section of the state, but he himself is filling a large place in the public affairs of this community. Recognized as a man of strong and alert mentality, deeply interested in everything pertain- ing to the welfare of the community along material and civic lines, he is
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regarded as one of the progressive and enterprising men of his city and county.
Joseph R. Voris was born in Bedford, Lawrence county, Indiana, on the 13th of September, 1866, and is the son of Archibald C. and Antoinette (Rawlins) Voris. Specific mention is made of Col. Archibald C. Voris elsewhere in this work, therefore it is not deemed necessary to give details of his life history at this point, further than to say that he was, during his active years, one of the most prominent and influential figures in the devel- opment and growth of this community, being identified with many of the county's leading enterprises, besides which he had attained to an eminent standing as a lawyer. Joseph R. Voris attended the public schools of Bed- ford, completing his general studies in Hanover College. He then entered upon the study of law at Northwestern University, and during 1887-8 he read law in the office of Robert T. Lincoln, at Chicago. In the latter year Mr. Voris entered the law department of Harvard University, where he remained two years. In 1890 he returned to Bedford and became cashier of the Citizens National Bank, performing the duties of that position until the death of his father, in 1911, when he was elected to succeed the latter as president. He has, by his earnest efforts and sound judgment, contributed in a definite degree to the splendid success which has characterized this insti- tution and is held in high regard by his associates. He was also one of the organizers and is a director of the Citizens Trust Company of Bedford, besides which he has some banking and financial interests elsewhere. He was president of the Indiana Bankers' Association in 1908-9, and is at present a member of the executive council of the American Bankers' Association, being one of the two members from Indiana. Mr. Voris was for twenty years secretary, and later president, of the Bedford Light. Heat and Power Com- pany, which was recently sold to the Middle West Utilities Company, of Chicago. In all these enterprises Mr. Voris has been a moving spirit and influential factor, demonstrating business and executive ability of a high order.
In civic affairs Mr. Voris has taken a large interest and was one of the organizers of the Bedford public library, of which he has served as secretary since its organization. He was a member of the first Indiana public library commission board and assisted in the organization of that body, which has done so much for the library interests of the state. Politically, Mr. Voris gives his support to the Republican party, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Free and Accepted Masons, having attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite in
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the last-named order. Socially. he is a member of the Sigma Chi college fraternity.
On October 3, 1900, Mr. Voris was married to Katherine Dunlap Wake- field, the daughter of James M. Wakefield. of Washington, Indiana, and to them have been born two children, Elizabeth W. and Archibald C.
J. P. TOURNER, M. D.
Notwithstanding the long strides that have been made in the practice of the healing art within the past half century, the discovery of medical proper- ties in hundreds of vegetable and mineral substances that not many years ago were not included in materia medica as remedies, or barely mentioned in the pharmacopeia, or laid dormant as far as the dispensary is concerned; not- withstanding the charlantancy practiced by adventurers in the legitimate prac- tice of the art, and the quacks that claimed particular and special gifts in the treatment of human ills; and notwithstanding the fact that legislatures have found it necessary to regulate the general practice by the expulsion of diplo- maless pretenders and the registration of legitimate and truly scientific physi- cians, there are some of the latter who have risen to eminence within the field of their actual labors, and among these is the subject of this sketch, whose career has been that of a true and conscientious worker in the sphere to which he has devoted his life and energy, and who possesses a profound knowledge of medicine and surgery.
The state of Kentucky has sent to Indiana many representatives of their best families, among which is the family of which the subject of this sketch is a representative. Dr. J. P. Tourner, to whom belongs the distinction of having practiced his profession longer at Bloomington than any other physi- cian now here, was born at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on March 25, 1854, and is the son of Dr. Henry P. and Frances ( Morgan) Tourner. His mother was a member of the noted Gen. Daniel Morgan family of Carolina. Henry P. Tourner, who for a half century was a prominent and successful physician, had practiced at Nashville, Tennessee : Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Bloom- ington, Indiana, his death occurring in the latter city in 1881. He was a na- tive of Ireland, where he had received a splendid literary education, and after coming to this country procured his professional training in Lexington, Ken- tucky. The subject's mother died on March 17, 1908. To these parents were born eight children, seven of whom are living, namely: Henry P., a watch- maker and jeweler in Bloomington ; J. P., the immediate subject of this sketch ;
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Sarah, who died in 1911, was the wife of William Giles: C. J., a merchant tailor in Bloomington ; Ella, the wife of Dr. S. E. Meek, of Chicago; Frank P., a physician at Bloomington; Howard M., who is a watch-maker and jeweler with his brother, Henry P., of Bloomington; Anna B., who has devoted her life to educational work, is a teacher in Korea, having charge of the Metho- dist Episcopal high school there. Dr. Henry P. Tourner was a Whig in early life, but later his political views changed and he became aligned with the Democratic party. He was an active member of the Masonic order for fifty years, while in the Baptist church, of which he was also a member for many years, he took a deep interest and held the office of deacon.
The subject of this sketch received a good practical common school edu- cation in Bloomington, being a graduate of the high school, and then for a time attended a private school here. Having determined to follow in his father's footsteps and devote his life to the healing art, he attended medical lectures in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati in 1876-7, after which he entered upon the active practice of his profession at Bloomington, in which he has been engaged for thirty-six years, being thus the dean of the profession in this locality. Through a long and busy life, replete with honor and suc- cess worthily attained, Doctor Tourner has been actuated by only the highest motives and to the practice of his profession he has brought rare skill and resource, such qualities stamping him as a man of unusual talent and enti- tling him to be classed with the benefactors of mankind. His quick percep- tion and almost intuitive judgment have rendered him especially strong in diagnosis, though ever willing to lend any aid or suggestion. He makes a specialty of physical diagnosis and internal medicine, in both of which he has enjoyed phenomenal success. Throughout his busy life he has ever been a hard and enthusiastic student, thus keeping well abreast of the times, for he has realized that in the science of medicine, as in all other departments of modern research, there have been constant and steady advances and discov- eries. The Doctor has been very successful in his large practice during the years and because of his ability and his high personal character he enjoys a high standing among his professional colleagues and the people generally. He has served as secretary of the county board of health, and has also been a member of the board of pension examiners, though not ambitious for any office.
In 1877 Doctor Tourner was married to Amanda Buskirk, the daughter of William H. Buskirk, of this county, a member of one of the locality's old families. Politically, the Doctor is an ardent supporter of the Democratic party, while, fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the
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Free and Accepted Masons, in the latter order having taken all the degrees of the York rite, including those of Knight Templar. Personally, he is a man of kindly and genial impulses and has endeared himself to a large and con- stantly widening circle of friends and acquaintances.
WILLIAM N. SHOWERS.
Among the worthy citizens of Bloomington, Indiana, whose residence here has contributed in no small degree to the prestige of the vicinity, is William N. Showers, for, while laboring for his individual advancement, he has never forgotten his obligations to the public and his support of such mea- sures and movements as have been made for the general good has always been depended upon. Although his life has been a busy one, his private affairs making heavy demands upon his time, he has never allowed it to interfere with his obligations as a citizen and neighbor. Through the long years of his residence in this locality, he has ever been true to the trusts reposed in him, whether of a public or private nature, and his reputation in a business way has been unassailable. Possessing in a marked degree those sterling traits which have commanded uniform confidence and regard, he is today honored by all who know him and is numbered among the representative men of his section of the state.
William N. Showers was born in Ohio, on May 28, 1846, and is a son of Charles C. and Elizabeth ( Hull) Showers. His father, who was a native of Pennsylvania, followed the furniture business during his earlier years of active business life, but in later years became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. He came to Monroe county, Indiana, in April, 1854, and here spent the remainder of his life. Politically, he was a stanch Republican, but never an office seeker. To him and his wife were born the following children : Sara is the widow of John Sears ; Mary is the wife of James M. Hendricks. and lives in Louisville, Kentucky: J. D. is represented in a per- sonal sketch elsewhere in this work: William N. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Martha L. became the wife of Francis M. Ingler, of Indianapolis ; Anna became the wife of Henry H. Houston, of Bloomington ; Charles H. is deceased.
William N. Showers received a good practical education and on reaching mature years became identified with his brother, J. D. Showers, in the furni- ture manufacturing business at Bloomington, an industry which, through
Mr J. Showers
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their enterprising methods and successful management, has enjoyed a steady and constant growth through the years until now it is the largest manufac- turing establishment of the kind in the United States. Over one thousand people are employed in the plant of this company, which embraces over fifteen acres of floor space. Many high priced and expert workmen are employed and the company makes a specialty of bed-room furniture, in which they are not excelled by any factory in the country. The Showers factory has for many years enjoyed an enviable reputation among the great manufacturing concerns of the state and has played a very prominent and important part in the financial prosperity of Bloomington.
Aside from his interests already mentioned, Mr. Showers is also inter- ested in a number of other enterprises of importance, being a stockholder and a director of the First National Bank of Bloomington, as well as of the Citizens Loan and Trust Company and the Building and Loan Association, and is also identified with the Sterling Fire Insurance Company and the Amer- ican Mortgage, Loan and Guarantee Company, both of Indianapolis. He is a man of mature judgment, ripe experience and wise discrimination, and his advice in matters of business is held in high regard by his associates.
Politically, Mr. Showers is an earnest supporter of the Republican party and for seven years served as a member of the city council of Bloomington, where he rendered effective service in the interest of the city of his residence. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which for thirty years he has been active, being at the present time chairman of the. board of stewards and giving his support to every enterprise of the church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and is a member of the Mystic Shrine, as well as the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, in the work of which orders he takes an appreciative interest.
In 1868 Mr. Showers was united in marriage with Hannah L. Hend- ricks, of Putnam county, this state, a daughter of John H. Hendricks, now deceased, who during his active life was a successful farmer and miller. To Mr. and Mrs. Showers have been born three children, namely: Jennie. the wife of Joseph Smith, who is associated with Mr. Showers in the furniture business ; Nellie is the wife of Sanford Teeter who is secretary and treasurer of the company; W. Edward, who is vice-president and general manager of the Showers Brothers plant. Personally, Mr. Showers is a man of genial and unassuming demeanor in his relations with his fellow men, among whom he
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enjoys a well deserved popularity. He has, without reserve, always stood for the best things in the life of the community honored by his residence and here his name has become a synonym for character and worth.
THOMAS J. BROOKS.
One of the distinctive functions of this publication is to take recognition of those citizens of the commonwealth of Indiana who stand eminently rep- resentative in their chosen spheres of endeavor, and in this connection there is absolute propriety in according consideration to Thomas J. Brooks, of Bedford, who has not only attained to an enviable standing in the legal pro- fession, but is also numbered among the leaders in the commercial life of Lawrence county, having for a number of years been at the head of one of the strongest and most influential financial institutions of the county, while in political and civic life he is a prominent figure.
Thomas J. Brooks is a native son of Indiana, having been born in Loo- gootee, Martin county, on the 22d of April, 1857. He is the son of Lewis and Amanda M. (Crooks) Brooks, both of whom also were natives of Mar- tin county. Mr. Brooks is descended from a sterling old line of English ancestry, his paternal line being traced back to Thomas Brooks, who, in 1635, came from London, England, with Rev. Bulkeley, who founded the town of Concord, Massachusetts. Lewis Brooks, the subject's father, was a successful farmer and also was engaged in the mercantile business. During the Civil war he enlisted in defense of his country, becoming colonel of the Eighteenth Regi- ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served valiantly for three years. His death occurred in 1913, liis wife having passed away in 1893. They were the parents of the following children : Thomas J., the immediate subject of this review ; Susan, who still resides in Martin county ; Mrs. Anna Schwey, of Martin county; Mrs. Amanda Hacker, of Martin county ; Lewis, of Vincennes, this state ; William F., of Bedford; Emma, also of Martin county; Horace G., of Louisville, Kentucky; Daniel. of Martin county, and May, who is deceased.
Thomas J. Brooks received his early education in the common schools of his native county, and then was student for some time in the National Nor- mal School at Lebanon, Ohio. At the age of nineteen years he began teaching school and for four years was thus employed in Martin county. In the mean- time he had formed a determination to make the practice of law his life work
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and, to this end, had been devoting his spare time to the study of Kent, Blackstone and other great authorities in the science of jurisprudence. In 1882 he entered upon the active practice of that profession in Shoals, Indiana, and in 1892 came to Bedford and opened a law office. He continued in the practice in Bedford alone for two years and then formed a partnership with his brother, William F. Brooks, under the firm name of Brooks & Brooks, which for many years has been recognized as one of the strongest and most successful law firms of Lawrence county. The subject is generally recog- nized in this part of the state as a lawyer of unusual attainments and he has been connected as counsel, on one side or the other, with most of the impor- tant litigation tried in the local courts. Mr. Brooks is local attorney for the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway Company and the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern Railway Company and has served as attorney for the city of Bedford, and as attorney for Lawrence county for the past eighteen years.
Though a busy man professionally, Mr. Brooks has found time to take an active part in business affairs and, on December 19, 1905, he was elected president of the Bedford National Bank, of Bedford, of which he had been a director since its organization, in 1899. The capital stock of the bank was at first fifty thousand dollars, but has since been increased to one hundred thousand dollars, with surplus and undivided profits of thirty-five thousand dollars, the institution having been for many years one of the important and influential factors in the prosperity and growth of Bedford and Lawrence county. In February, 1896, Mr. Brooks acquired a half interest in the Bedford Mail, one of the popular and influential newspapers of this county and which has proven a good business investment. Daily and weekly edi- tions are published and in 1912 the plant was installed in a splendid new building, being equipped with modern and up-to-date machinery. The Mail is Republican in politics and is one of the most readable and popular sheets published in this section of the state.
Politically, Mr. Brooks is a Republican and for many years has been a prominent figure in the councils of his party. He has been a member of the state central committee and representative of this district in the State Senate. He took a prominent part in the organization of the Bedford Library Asso- ciation and has been president of its board of trustees since its organization in 1897. In many other ways he has shown a commendable interest in the welfare of his adopted city and has been numbered among hier leading and progressive citizens. Mr. Brooks' religious affiliations are with the Metho- dist Episcopal- church, to the support of which he is a liberal contributor.
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On August 13, 1892, Mr. Brooks was united in marriage with Lorabel Wallace, the daughter of Armstrong and Sarah (Tomey) Wallace. Her father was a descendant of Rev. John Wallace, a native of Virginia, who fought in the Revolutionary war, and in 1808 settled in Daviess county. To Mr. and Mrs. Brooks has been born a daughter, May, who will graduate from Smith College, at Northampton, Massachusetts, in June, 1914.
Personally, Mr. Brooks is a man of genial disposition and kindly im- pulses, characteristics which have won for him a large circle of warm and loyal friends, and he is eminently deserving of the high standing which he enjoys in the community.
HON. WILLIAM HAMILTON MARTIN.
Indiana has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar. Perhaps none of the newer states can justly boast of abler jurists or attorneys. Many of them have been men of national fame, and among those whose lives have been passed on a quieter plane there is scarcely a town or city in the state but that can boast of one or more lawyers capable of crossing swords in forensic combat with many of the distinguished legal lights of the country. While the growth and development of the state in the last half century has been most marvelous, viewed from any standpoint, yet of no one class of her citizenship has she greater reason for just pride than her judges and attorneys. In Judge Martin are found united many of the rare qualities which go to make the successful lawyer and jurist. He possesses perhaps few of those brilliant, dazzling, meteoric qualities which have sometimes flashed along the legal horizon, riveting the gaze and blinding the vision for the moment, then disappearing, leaving little or no trace behind; but rather has those solid and more substantial qualities which shine with a constant luster, shedding light in the dark places with steadiness and contin- uity.
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