USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 49
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COL. ARCHIBALD C. VORIS.
One of the most conspicuous figures in the recent history of Bedford was the late A. C. Voris, a man who attained high prominence in the pro- fession of law and was actively identified with the business and industrial in- terests of his section of the state. Equally noted as a citizen whose career, useful and honorable, conferred credit upon the community and whose marked abilities and sterling qualities won for him much more than local repute, he held distinctive precedence as one of the most progressive and successful men that ever inaugurated and carried to successful completion large and import- ant undertakings in this locality. Strong mental powers, invincible courage and a determined purpose that hesitated at no opposition so entered into his composition as to render him a dominant factor in the business world and a leader of men in large enterprises. He was essentially a man of affairs, sound of judgment, keen discernment and far-seeing in what he undertook, and every enterprise to which he addressed himself resulted in liberal material rewards. His extensive business interests were the legitimate fruitage of conseentive effort, directed and controlled not only by good judgment, but also by correct moral principles.
Archibald C. Voris was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, on June 16, 1829, and was one of eleven children born to Cornelius R. and Mary (Van Nuys) Voris. These parents were natives of Kentucky, but were early
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settlers of Indiana, having come to this state in 1824. The subject's early years were spent on the parental farmstead, his elementary education being received in the district schools of the neighborhood. In 1851 he became a student in Hanover College, where he was graduated in 1855, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, eventually receiving from his alma mater the Master's degree. Immediately upon the completion of his college course, Mr. Voris came to Bedford and taught school for one year. In the meantime he had given serious attention to the study of law and in 1856 he was admitted to the bar of Lawrence county. The following year he went to Harvard Uni- versity and became a student in the Dane Law School, where he took the full course. He then returned to Bedford and formed a partnership with Judge Pearson in the practice of law, in which he actively engaged until July, 1862, when Mr. Voris responded to his country's call and enlisted for military service. He was commissioned a captain by President Lincoln and was as- signed to duty on the staff of Gen. W. S. Hancock, where he rendered faith- ful service until the close of the war. At the date of his discharge, in May, 1865. he held a commission as brevet lieutenant-colonel, awarded him "for gallant and faithful service on the field."
On his return to peaceful pursuits, Colonel Voris resumed the practice of law. For five years, beginning with 1867, Colonel Voris was associated with Judge Francis Wilson in professional work, and he afterwards formed a partnership with Samuel D. Luckett, which continued until the Colonel be- came so largely interested in outside business affairs, which demanded practi- cally all of his time, that he made a proposition to Judge William H. Martin, who had studied law in his office, to relieve him of his law practice, which was accepted. The Colonel finally abandoned the practice of law in 1882. As a lawyer, Colonel Voris achieved an enviable reputation and while en- gaged in the active practice he was connected with most of the important cases tried in the local court. Natural ability, a good general education, care- ful technical preparation and indefatigable industry, all combined to render him able to cope with the ablest members of the bar and he was signally successful in the practice. A man of ripe scholarship, his mind broadened by experience and habits of close observation, he was a man of rare attainments and he graced any company in which he was found. Genial and companion- able, he easily made friends and was well liked among all classes.
Colonel Voris' first business venture of importance was in connection with the Dark Hollow Stone Company, with which he became connected in 1879 and of which he was president, and he was also identified with the Bed-
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ford Oolitic and the Louisville & Bedford Stone Companies. It was these companies which first developed the quarries in the district northwest of Bedford and near what is now known as the town of Oolitic. Colonel Voris was also one of the organizers of the Bedford, Springville & Switz City Rail- road, now known as the Bedford & Bloomfield branch of the Monon railroad, the building of this road having been made necessary in order that the products of the quarries could be shipped to outside markets. Colonel Voris realized a fortune from his stone interests. which interests he eventually disposed of and, in 1891, he organized the Citizens National Bank of Bedford, of which he was elected president. He was also president of the Citizens Trust Com- pany, of the Green Hill Cemetery Association, and of the Bedford Light, Heat & Power Company, in which he had acquired a controlling interest. Colonel Voris was one of the most enterprising and progressive business men in Bedford, and to him was due in a large measure the splendid progress which characterized the city of his adoption. He was in a large sense the father of the stone industry here and to him more than to any other man may be attrib- uted the development of this gigantic enterprise which has made the name of Bedford known the world over. Although straightforward and unostenta- tious, and a man who delighted in keeping the even tenor of his way as far as was consistent with good citizenship. he made his influence felt among those with whom he mingled. Strong mental endowment, invincible courage and a determined will, coupled with an honesty of purpose that hesitated at no obstacle, so entered into his composition as to render him a dominant factor in the business world and a leader of men in important enterprises.
In politics Colonel Voris was an ardent supporter of the Republican party and in the national convention at Chicago in 1860 he was active in securing the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. He was at one time the candi- date of his party for judge of the tenth judicial circuit, being opposed by Judge Bicknell, but, the district being largely Democratic, he was defeated. In 1876 he was his party's candidate for judge of the supreme court, but met defeat, together with the rest of the state ticket. Religiously, he had been, since early manhood, a member of the Presbyterian church, of which he was an elder for fifty-three years, and to the support of which he was a liberal contributor. The death of Colonel Voris occurred on Saturday, December 2, 19II ; his widow still resides in Bedford, where she is highly esteemed by all who know her. Mrs. Voris, to whom the Colonel was married on November 16, 1858, bore the maiden name of Antoinette Rawlins. To them were born two children. Joseph R. Voris, president of the Citizens National Bank of Bedford, being the only one living.
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J. E. P. HOLLAND, M. D.
The life of the distinguished physician and public-spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well defined pur- pose with the ability to make that purpose subserve not only his own ends but the good of his fellow men as well. He has long held distinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual disci- pline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge with the skill to apply the same, without which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to human ills.
Dr. J. E. P. Holland, who holds distinctive preferment as a specialist in the treatment of eye, ear and nose ailments, was born at Detroit, Michigan, on November 27, 1876, and is a son of James P. and Leonora (McDougall) Holland, of whom the father was a native of Scotland, who came to the United States and settled in New York city. Subsequently he moved to De- troit and still later to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he successfully followed his profession as a mechanical engineer, in which he was considered an expert. He was successful in his profession and is now living a retired life. To him and his wife were born two children, the subject of this sketch and Charlotte, who is now the wife of Dr. Leonard Booth, of Milwaukee. In the public schools of Milwaukee and Chicago the subject of this sketch received the elements of his education, and having decided to take up the practice of medicine he matriculated in the department of medicine of Purdue Univer- sity, where he was graduated with the class of 1906. Immediately afterward he engaged in the active practice at Bloomington, where for about six years he enjoyed his full share of the public patronage in his line. However, he desired to still further perfect himself in the science to which he had devoted his life and he went to Europe, where for a time he gave critical study to diseases of the eye, ear and nose, and on his return to Bloomington he devoted his attention specifically to this branch of the practice of medicine. He has a finely equipped office, the building in which he is located having been built by himself with the purpose of establishing a hospital for the care of patients, but about the same time a larger hospital was built at Bloomington which avoided the necessity of Doctor Holland's building, so that only a part of the building is now used as an office and operating room. Doctor Holland has achieved a splendid standing in his profession and since specializing, his reputation as a skilled physician has attracted to him many patients from distant localities, his patronage growing continually until today he enjoys
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one of the largest clienteles in this locality. In addition to his creditable career in one of the most useful and exacting of professions he has also proven an honorable member of the body politic.
In 1903 Doctor Holland was married to Beryl Showers, the daughter of Charles H. and Maude E. Showers, one of the old and prominent families of Monroe county who are referred to specifically elsewhere in this volume. To the Doctor and his wife has been born one child, Charles Edwin.
Fraternally, Doctor Holland is a member of the Masonic order and is also a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Religiously, he and the members of his family are affiliated with the Episcopal church.
JOEL L. HOBBS.
The best history of a community or state is that which deals most with the lives and activities of its people, especially of those who, by their own endeavor and indomitable energy, have forged to the front and placed them- selves where they deserve the title of progressive men. In this brief review will be found the record of one who has outstripped the less active plodders on the highway of life and achieved a career surpassed by few of his con- temporaries, a career of marked success in agricultural affairs and a name which all men who know him delight to honor owing to his upright life and habits of thrift and industry.
Joel L. Hobbs, the popular and well known member of the board of county commissioners of Lawrence county, Indiana, was born on November 7, 1858, in Granger county, Tennessee, and is the son of William G. and N. E. ( Hopson) Hobbs, the father a native of Lee county, Virginia, and the mother of the state of Alabama. William G. Hobbs was reared in Lee county, Virginia, and after his marriage there he came to Indiana, locating east of Bedford, Lawrence county, where he acquired a tract of land about four miles distant from that city. He eventually acquired the ownership of several different farms, to the cultivation of which he devoted his attention through- out his active life. He was energetic and a good manager and was very suc- cessful in his efforts. He and his wife both lived to advanced ages, his death occurring in 1907 at the age of eighty-one years, and his wife's death occurred in 1906, at the age of seventy-four years, at Henning, Illinois. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, while, politically, the father was an ardent supporter of the Republican party. taking a deep interest in public
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affairs, but never aspiring to public office. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children : Samuel, a farmer at Redmon, Illinois; Caroline, deceased ; Joel L., the immediate subject of this sketch; Minerva, the wife of Joseph Thrall, of Lawrence county, Indiana; Joseph, deceased, a soldier in 1861 ; William, Jr., a timber man in Michigan; Aylett, who is engaged in the lumber business at Arthur, Illinois ; Florence is the wife of George J. Jones, of Eagle Grove, Iowa ; John is a railroad man at Mount Carmel, Illinois : Leganie is the wife of George Simpson, of Lawrence county.
Joel L. Hobbs received only a limited school education, being denied the educational privileges which he would have enjoyed. He remained under the parental roof until twenty years of age and then after his first marriage he located east of Bedford, where he engaged in farming. He has devoted his attention to this vocation throughout his active life and in this has shown his wisdom, for he has achieved a success which has been both sure and continuous and today is numbered among the most successful, enterprising and progres- sive farmers of Lawrence county. He is the owner of one hundred and thirty-four acres of fine land in Shawswick township, Lawrence county, of which about one hundred acres are under cultivation, and here he carries on general farming, raising all the crops common to this locality and giving a share of his attention to the breeding and raising of live stock. His farm is well improved, his comfortable and attractive residence, commodious and well arranged barns and other features of the place showing him to be a man of sound judgment and wise discrimination. Mr. Hobbs has been twice married, his first union being with Nannie I. Younger, of Lawrence county, Indiana, and the daughter of Michael and Mary (Cummings) Younger, also natives of Lawrence county, where the father followed farming. Mrs. Hobbs died in 1894, leaving two chidren, Claude C. and Maude May, twins, the former dying in infancy. Maude May became the wife of N. C. Plum- mer, a farmer in Lawrence county. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Hobbs married Clara Ramsey, the widow of Logan Ramsey, and the daugh- ter of Thomas T. and Susan Stipps. Mrs. Hobbs' mother is deceased, but her father is now a successful farmer in Shawswick township, Lawrence county. To the subject's second union has been born one son, Frank E., who is at home with his parents.
Politically a Republican, Mr. Hobbs has all his life taken an intelligent interest in public affairs, especially in reference to the locality in which he factory was his discharge of the official duties of this position that he was lives, and in recognition of his ability and splendid character he was nom- inated by his party and elected to the office of county commissioner. So satis-
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elected to succeed himself and is now a member of the board. Fraternally, he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Bedford for twenty years, and takes an appreciative interest in the workings of that society. He is a member of the Christian church, while Mrs. Hobbs belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Hobbs, by her marriage with Logan Ramsey, was the mother of two children, namely : Nellie, the wife of Thomas Bair, of Lawrence county, and Blanche, the wife of William Woods, also of this county. In all the relations of life Mr. Hobbs has been found faithful to every trust confided in him and because of his genuine worth, courteous man- ners and genial disposition he has won and retained the warm regard of all with whom he has associated, the latter including the best people of the county.
J. B. DUNCAN, M. D.
No other profession has accomplished, during the last half century, the progress and development that have been made by the medical. The man of original thought and action, whose textbook forms but the basis of future work, has ever moved forward, taking advantage of and utilizing new dis- coveries in the science and looking always for better methods, surer means to the desired end. Such a man is he whose name forms the caption to this sketch. In considering the character and career of this eminent member of the medical fraternity, the impartial observer will not only be disposed to rank him among the leading members of his profession in his locality, but also as one of those men of broad culture and mental ken who have honored mankind in general. Through a long and busy life, replete with honor and success, he has been actuated by the highest motives, and to the practice of his profession he has brought rare skill and resource, his quick perception and almost intuitive judgment enabling him to make a correct diagnosis, always necessary that proper treatment may be used. He has always been a close student of medical science, keeping in close touch with the latest advances along that line, and he has been uniformly successful in the practice. Be- cause of his high attainments and his exalted personal character, he is emi- nently entitled to representation in a work of this character.
J. B. Duncan was born on the paternal farmstead, about four miles northeast of Bedford, Indiana, on March 6, 1856. and he is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of this section of the state. His paternal grand- father, William Duncan, better known as Judge Duncan, was born in Jeffer
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son county, Kentucky, on March 8, 1802. On reaching manhood's years he married Mary H. Malott, who was born and reared in an adjoining county, and their wedding journey to their new home in Lawrence county, Indiana, was made on one horse. They settled on the John Younger farm, five miles from Bedford, where Mr. Duncan lived until about 1860, then he moved to Bedford, where he lived until his death, which occurred on March 15, 1875. His wife lived till April 29, 1887. William Duncan was a man of unusual ability and early became a man of influence and prominence in the community. He served as county judge several years and as county surveyor for thirty years. He was very successful in his business affairs, becoming the owner of over two thousand acres of land. Kind and charitable in disposition, he reared to manhood and womanhood seven orphan children besides his own family of five children, all of whom became honored and respected citizens of their respective communities. His five children were: Bolivar, father of the subject of this sketch; Lycurgus ; Coleman ; Judge H. C., of Bloomington ; Mrs. Dr. J. W. Newland. All of these children are now deceased. Bolivar Duncan was born on the farm northeast of Bedford in 1825, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Batman, was born at Bono, Law- rence county, Indiana, in 1829. Bolivar Duncan was a farmer by vocation and owned a fine tract of land, known as the Duncan farm, two miles south- east of Bedford, where his death occurred on July 3, 1883. To him and his wife were born nine children, namely : Isis, the widow of Robert W. Day, of Bedford; William P., who lives on a part of the land which was entered by his grandfather in 1835, and which is located about five miles southeast of Bedford; Coleman, who is a retired farmer, is living at Louisville, Kentucky; Doctor James B., the immediate subject of this sketch; Sallie E., the wife of Robert C. Duncan, of Bowling Green, Kentucky; Robert S., a farmer and large land owner, of Bedford; Nannie, the widow of J. W. Newland, of Bed- ford; Clay W., proprietor of the Bedford Hardware Company, and Harry, who died in December, 1894.
Dr. James B. Duncan was reared on the home farm and his earliest edu- cational training was received in the little brick school house of the neigh- borhood. Later he attended the Bedford high school and then for four years he was engaged in teaching school. In 1876 he entered the Kentucky School of Medicine, at Louisville, where he was graduated in 1879, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and he immediately entered upon the active practice of his profession at Petersburg, Indiana. After thirteen years of successful effort at Petersburg, Doctor Duncan, in 1894, came to Bedford and has since been active among the leading medical practitioners of this locality, command-
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ing his full share of patronage and winning the confidence and high regard of all who know him. The Doctor has been successful in his material affairs and is the owner of considerable valuable real estate. He is a member of the Lawrence County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He possesses a large and well selected library of professional and general literature and is well informed on public questions, being a splendid conversationalist and agreeable companion.
Doctor Duncan has been married three times, first to Mollie Knight, the daughter of J. D. Knight, her death occurring in 1881, without issue. The Doctor then married Sallie Carson, of Petersburg, Indiana, who bore him a daughter, Georgia, now the wife of John C. Brumley, of Oakland, California. Mrs. Sallie Duncan died in 1898, and in 1902 Doctor Duncan married Ollie Batman, of Bloomington. Indiana, the daughter of Henry H. and Catherine Batman.
Politically, the Doctor is an enthusiastic supporter of the Republican party, in the past and present history of which he is proud, while religiously, he is a member of the Christian church, in which he holds the office of elder. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Owing to his probity of character, his genuine worth, his professional ability and his kindly and genial disposition, the Doctor has gained a position as one of the earnest men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle have called forth the admiration of his contemporaries.
AMZI ATWATER.
By Prof. Theophilus A. Wylie, from "History of Indiana University," 1891.
"Amzi Atwater was born November 9, 1839, at Mantua, Ohio, and com- menced his academic education, 1853, at the Eclectic Institute, which after- wards became Hiram College .* On leaving the institute, and after two years
#Mr. Atwater regards it as a part of his education, next in value to that of his early home training, that he was at Hiram College during the presidency of James A. Garfield. Mr. Garfield had entered the Eclectic in 1851, soon was a teacher and became the president of the institution in 1856. Few strangers to Hiram can under- stand the wonderful enthusiasm of the students for this man. Almost without excep- tion, they regarded him without an equal in the world. Again and again they prophe- sied he would become the President of the United States. One of them said: "Then began to grow up in me an admiration and love for Garfield which has never abated, the like of which I have never known."
AMZI ATWATER
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of teaching, he attended the Northwestern Christian University ( now Butler) at Indianapolis. Later he entered the junior class of Indiana University in 1865. In his senior year he was appointed principal pro tem of the preparatory department of the university, taking the place of Prof. James Woodburn, the principal of this department, who had died shortly before the commencement of the college year 1865-6. In 1866 he graduated. receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and three years later the degree of Master of Arts. After graduation he was made adjunct professor of languages and principal of the preparatory department of the university. This position he held until 1868, when he was elected professor of Latin and Greek in Hiram College. While holding that position he was called to the pastorate of the Disciples church at Mentor. Ohio. In 1870 he was elected professor of Latin in Indiana Uni- versity, and returned to Bloomington, where he has since remained and has, since 1889, been vice-president of the university.
"Professor Atwater is well known as an able and interesting lecturer, especially on educational topics. He lectured in the northeastern part of the state in the interest of the university in the summer of 1875, and has since frequently lectured on these and kindred subjects before literary societies and institutes in the adjacent states. He married Miss Cortentia C. Munson, who had been lady principal in Hiram College."
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